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THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 


"Do  you  suppose  she  is  bringing  us  a  message?" 
Katharine  asked.     Frontispiece.     See  page  Ifl. 


THE  BOX  WITH 
BROKEN  SEALS 

By  E.  PHILLIPS  OPPENHEIM 


Author  of 

'The  Cinema  Murder"  "Mr.  Grex  of  Monte  Carlo," 

"The  Great  Impersonation,"  "The   Vanished  MeS' 

senger"  "The  Zeppelin's  Passenger"  Etc. 


WITH  FRONTISPIECE  BY 

F.  VAUX  WILSON 


A.  L.  BURT  COMPANY 

Publishers  New  York 

Published  by  arrangement  with   Little,   Brown   and   Company 


Copyright,  1919, 
Bt  Little,  Brown,  and  Companii 


All  rights  reserved 


Published,  October,  1919 

Reprinted,  October,  1919 

Reprinted,  November,  1919 

Kepriiited,  December,  1919  (tvnce) 

Eeprinted,  July,  1920 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN 
SEALS 

CHAPTER  I 

James  Crawshay,  Englishman  of  the  type  usually 
described  in  transatlantic  circles  as  *'  some  Brit- 
isher," lolled  apparently  at  his  ease  upon  the  couch  of 
the  too-resplendent  sitting  room  in  the  Hotel  Magnifi- 
cent, Chicago.  Hobson,  his  American  fellow  trav- 
eler, on  the  other  hand,  betrayed  his  anxiety  by  his 
nervous  pacing  up  and  down  the  apartment.  Both 
men  bore  traces  in  their  appearance  of  the  long 
journey  which  they  had  only  just  completed. 

"  I  think,"  Crawshay  decided,  yawning,  "  that  I 
shall  have  a  bath.  I  feel  gritty,  and  my  collar  — 
heavens,  what  a  sight !  Your  trains,  Hobson,  may 
be  magnificent,  but  your  coal  is  filthy.  I  will  have  a 
bath  while  your  friend,  the  policeman,  makes  up  his 
mind  whether  to  come  and  see  us  or  not." 

His  companion  treated  the  suggestion  with  scant 
courtesy. 

"  You  will  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  was  his  almost 
fierce  objection.  "We've  got  to  wait  right  here 
until  Chief  of  Police  Downs  comes  along.  There's 
something  crooked  about  this  business,  something  I 
don't  understand,  and  the  sooner  we  get  to  the  bot- 
tom of  it,  the  better," 

The  Englishman  pacified  himself  with   a  whisky 


2         THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

and  soda  which  a  waiter  had  just  brought  in.  He 
added  several  lumps  of  ice  and  drained  the  contents 
of  the  tumbler  with  a  little  murmur  of  appreciation. 

"  It  will  be  confoundedly  annoying,"  he  admitted 
quietly,  "  if  we've  had  all  this  journey  for  nothing." 

Hobson  moistened  his  dry  lips  with  his  tongue. 
The  whisky  and  soda  and  the  great  bucket  of  ice 
stood  temptingly  at  his  elbow,  but  he  appeared  to 
ignore  their  existence.  He  was  a  man  of  ample 
build,  with  a  big,  clean-shaven  face,  a  square  jaw  and 
deep-set  eyes,  a  man  devoted  to  and  wholly  engrossed 
by  his  work. 

"  See  here,  Crawshay,"  he  exclaimed,  "  if  that  dis- 
patch was  a  fake,  if  we've  been  brought  here  on  a 
fool's  errand,  they  haven't  done  it  for  nothing.  If 
they've  brought  it  off  against  us,  you  mark  my  words, 
we're  left  —  we're  bamboozled  —  we're  a  couple  of 
lost  loons!  There's  nothing  left  for  us  but  to  sell 
candy  to  small  boys  or  find  a  job  on  a  farm." 

"  You're  such  a  pessimist,"  the  Englishman 
yawned. 

"Pessimist!"  was  the  angry  retort.  "I'll  just 
ask  you  one  question,  my  son.     Where's  Downs?  " 

"  I  certainly  think,"  Crawshay  admitted,  "  that 
under  the  circumstances  he  might  have  been  at  the 
station  to  meet  us." 

"  He  wouldn't  even  talk  through  the  'phone," 
Hobson  pointed  out.  "  I  had  to  explain  who  we 
were  to  one  of  his  inspectors.  No  one  seemed  to 
know  a  goldarned  thing  about  us." 

"  They  sent  for  him  right  away  when  you  ex- 
plained who  you  were,"  Crawshay  reminded  his  com- 
panion. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS    3 

Hobson  found  no  comfort  whatever  in  the  reflec- 
tion. 

"Of  course  they  did,"  he  replied  brusquely. 
"  There's  scarcely  likely  to  be  a  chief  of  police  of 
any  city  in  the  United  States  who  wouldn't  get  a 
move  on  when  he  knew  that  Sam  Hobson  was  waiting 
for  a  word.  I  haven't  been  in  the  Secret  Sen-ice 
of  this  country  for  fifteen  years  for  nothing.  He'll 
come  fast  enough  as  soon  as  he  knows  I'm  waiting, 
but  all  the  same,  what  I  want  to  know  is,  if  that  dis- 
patch was  on  the  square,  why  he  wasn't  at  the  sta- 
tion to  meet  us,  and  if  it  wasn't  on  the  square,  how 
the  hell  do  we  come  out  of  this  ?  " 

Their  conversation  was  interrupted  by  the  tinkle 
of  the  telephone  which  stood  upon  the  table  between 
them,  the  instrument  which  both  men  had  been  watch- 
ing anxiously.     Hobson  snatched  up  the  receiver. 

"Police  headquarters  speaking?  Right!  Yes, 
this  is  Sam  Hobson.  I'm  here  with  Crawshay,  of 
the  English  Secret  Service.  We  got  your  dis- 
patch.— What's  that  ?  —  Well  ?  —  Chief  Downs  is 
on  the  way,  eh.''  —  Just  started.'*  Good!  We're 
waiting  for  him." 

Hobson  replaced  the  receiver  upon  the  instru- 
ment. 

"  Downs  is  coming  right  along,"  he  announced. 
I "  I  tell  you  what  it  is,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  went  on, 
recommencing  his  walk  up  and  down  the  apartment, 
"  I  don't  feel  happy  to  be  so  far  away  from  the  coast. 
That's  what  scares  me.  Chicago's  just  about  the 
place  they'd  land  us,  if  this  is  a  hanky-panky  trick. 
We're  twent^^  hours  from  New  York,  and  the  City 
of  Boston  sails  to-morrow  at  five  o'clock." 


4         THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

The  Englishman  shook  himself  and  rose  from  his 
recumbent  position  upon  the  sofa.  He  was  a  man 
of  youthful  middle-age,  colourless,  with  pleasant 
face,  a  somewhat  discontented  mouth,  but  keen  grey 
eyes.  He  had  been  sent  out  from  Scotland  Yard 
at  the  beginning  of  the  war  to  assist  in  certain  work 
at  the  English  Embassy.  So  far  his  opportunities 
had  not  been  many,  or  marked  with  any  brilliant  suc- 
cess, and  it  seemed  to  him  that  the  gloom  of  failure 
was  already  settling  down  upon  their  present  expe- 
dition. 

"  You  don't  believe,  then,  any  more  than  I  do, 
that  when  a  certain  box  we  know  of  is  opened  at  the 
Foreign  Office  in  London,  it  will  contain  the  papers 
we  are  after?  " 

"  No,  sir,  I  do  not,"  was  the  vigorous  reply.  "  I 
think  they  have  been  playing  a  huge  game  of  bluff 
on  us.  That's  why  I  am  so  worried  about  this  trip. 
I  wouldn't  mind  betting  you  the  best  dinner  you 
ever  ate  at  Delmonico's  or  at  your  English  Savoy 
that  that  box  with  the  broken  seals  they  all  got  so 
excited  about  doesn't  contain  a  single  one  of  the 
papers  that  we're  after.  Why,  those  blasted  Teu- 
tons wanted  us  to  believe  it !  That's  why  some  of  the 
seals  were  broken,  and  why  the  old  man  himself  hung 
about  like  a  hen  that's  lost  one  of  its  chickens. 
They  want  us  to  believe  that  we've  got  the  goods 
right  in  that  box,  and  to  hold  up  the  search  for  a 
time  while  they  get  the  genuine  stuff  out  of  the  coun- 
try. I  admit  right  here,  Mr.  Crawshay,  that  it  was 
you  who  put  this  into  my  head  at  Halifax.  I 
couldn't  swallow  it  then,  but  when  Downs  didn't  meet 
us  at  the  depot  here,  it  came  over  me  like  a  flash 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS         5 

that  you  were  right  that  we  were  being  flimflammed." 

"  We  ought,  perhaps,  to  have  separated,"  the  Eng- 
lishman ruminated.  "  I  ought  to  have  gone  to  New 
York  and  you  come  here.  On  the  other  hand,  you 
must  remember  that  all  the  evidence  which  we  have 
managed  to  collect  points  to  Chicago  as  having  been 
the  headquarters  of  the  whole  organisation." 

"  Sure !  "  the  American  admitted.  "  And  there's 
another  point  about  it,  too.  If  this  outsider  who  has 
taken  on  the  job  for  them  should  really  turn  out  to 
be  Jocelyn  Thew,  I'd  have  banked  on  his  working 
the  scheme  from  Chicago.  He  knows  the  back  ways 
of  the  city,  or  rather  he  used  to,  like  a  rat.  Gee,  it 
would  be  a  queer  thing  if  after  all  these  years  one 
were  to  get  the  bracelets  on  him !  " 

"  I  don't  quite  see,"  Crawshay  remarked,  "  how 
such  a  person  as  this  Jocelyn  Thew,  of  whom  you 
have  spoken  several  times,  could  have  become  asso- 
ciated with  an  affair  of  this  sort.  Both  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  Austrians  at  Washington  had  the  name 
of  being  exceedingly  particular  with  regard  to  the 
status  of  their  agents,  and  he  must  be  entirely  a  new- 
comer in  international  matters.  From  the  dossier 
you  handed  me,  Jocelyn  Thew  reads  more  like  a  kind 
of  modern  swashbuckler  spoiling  for  a  fight  than  a 
person  likely  to  make  a  success  of  a  secret  service 
job." 

"  Don't  you  worry,"  Hobson  replied.  "  Jocelyn 
Thew  could  hold  his  own  at  any  court  in  Europe 
with  any  of  you  embassy  swaggerers.  There's  noth- 
ing known  about  his  family,  but  they  say  that  his 
father  was  an  English  aristocrat,  and  he  looks  like  it, 
too." 


6         THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  It  was  you  yourself  who  called  liim  a  criminal, 
the  first  time  you  spoke  of  him,"  Crawshay  reminded 
his  companion. 

"  And  a  criminal  he  is  at  heart,  without  a  doubt," 
the  American  declared  impressively. 

"  Has  he  ever  been  in  prison?  " 

"  He  has  had  the  luck  of  Old  Harry,"  Hobson 
grumbled.  "  In  New  York  they  all  believed  that  it 
was  he  who  shot  Graves,  the  Pittsburg  millionaire. 
The  Treasury  Department  will  have  it  that  he  was 
the  head  of  that  Fourteenth  Street  gang  of  coiners, 
and  I've  a  pal  down  at  Baltimore  who  is  ready  to 
take  his  oath  that  he  planned  the  theft  of  the  Van- 
derloon  jewels  —  and  brought  it  off,  too!  But  I 
tell  you  this,  sir.  When  the  trouble  comes,  whoever 
gets  nabbed  it's  never  Jocelyn  Thew.  He's  the  slick- 
est thing  that  ever  came  down  the  pike." 

"He  is  well  off,  then?" 

"  They  say  that  he  brought  half  a  million  from 
Mexico,"  Hobson  declared.  *'  How  he  brought 
money  out  of  that  country,  neither  I  nor  anybody 
else  on  the  Force  can  imagine.  But  he  did  it.  I 
know  the  stockbroker  down-town  who  handles  his  in- 
vestments.— Here's  our  man  at  last !  " 

The  door  was  opened  by  the  floor  waiter,  who  held 
it  while  a  thin,  dark  man,  dressed  in  civilian  clothes 
of  most  correct  cut,  passed  in.  Hobson  gripped  him 
at  once  by  the  hand. 

"  Chief  Downs,"  he  said,  "  this  is  my  friend  Mr. 
Crawshay,  who  is  connected  with  the  English  Em- 
bassy over  here.  You  can  shake  hands  with  him 
later.  We're  on  a  job  of  business,  and  the  first 
thing  before  us  is  to  get  an  answer  from  you  to  a 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS         7 

certain  question.  Did  you  send  this  flispatch  or  did 
jou  not?  " 

Hobson  handed  over  to  the  newcomer  the  crumpled 
telegraph  form  which  he  had  just  produced  from  his 
pocket.  The  latter  glanced  through  it  and  shook 
his  head. 

"  It's  a  plant,"  he  announced.  "  I'm  sorry  if  the 
use  of  my  name  has  misled  you  in  any  way,  but  it  was 
quite  unauthorised.  I  know  nothing  whatever  about 
the  matter." 

Hobson  remained  for  a  moment  silent,  silent 
with  sick  and  angry  astonishment.  Crawshay  had 
glanced  towards  the  clock  and  was  standing  now 
with  his  finger  upon  the  bell. 

"  Is  it  a  big  thing?  "  the  Chicago  man  enquired. 

"  It's  the  biggest  thing  ever  known  in  this  coun- 
try," Hobson  groaned.  "  It's  what  is  known  as  the 
Number  Three  Berlin  plant." 

"You  didn't  get  the  stuff  at  Halifax,  then?" 
Downs  asked. 

"We  didn't,"  Hobson  replied  bitterly.  "We've 
sent  a  representative  over  to  sit  on  the  box  with  the 
broken  seals  till  they  can  open  it  at  the  Foreign 
Office  in  London,  but  I  never  beheved  they'd  find  any- 
thing there.     I'm  damned  certain  they  won't  now !  " 

A  waiter  had  answered  the  bell. 

"  Don't  have  our  luggage  brought  up,"  Crawshay 
directed.  "  We  are  leaving  for  New  York  to-night. 
That's  so,  isn't  it,  Hobson?  "  he  added,  turning  to 
his  companion. 

"  You  bet !  "  was  the  grim  reply.  "  I'd  give  a 
thousand  dollars  to  be  there  now." 

"  The  Limited's   sold   out,"   the  man   told   them. 


8         THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  There  are  two  or  three  persons  who've  been  dis- 
appointed, staying  on  here  till  to-morrow." 

"  I'll  get  you  on  the  train,"  Downs  promised.  "  I 
can  do  as  much  as  that  for  you,  anyway.  I'll  stop 
and  go  on  to  the  station  with  you  from  here.  I'm 
very  sorry  about  this,  Hobson,"  he  continued,  finger- 
ing the  dispatch.  "  We  shall  have  to  get  right  along 
to  the  station,  but  if  there's  anything  I  can  do  after 
you've  left,  command  me." 

"  You  might  wire  New  York,"  Hobson  suggested, 
as  he  struggled  into  his  overcoat.  "  Tell  'em  to  look 
out  for  the  City  of  Boston,  and  to  hold  her  up  for 
me  if  they  can.  I've  got  it  in  my  bones  that  Jocelyn 
Thew  is  running  this  show  and  that  he  is  on  that 
steamer." 

"  Those  fellows  at  Washington  must  have  col- 
lected some  useful  stuff,"  Chief  Downs  observed,  as 
the  three  men  left  the  room  and  stepped  into  the 
elevator.  "  They've  been  working  on  their  job  since 
before  the  war,  and  there  isn't  a  harbour  on  the  east 
or  west  coast  that  they  haven't  got  sized  up. 
They've  spent  a  million  dollars  in  graft  since  Jan- 
uary, and  there's  a  rumour  that  the  new  Navy  De- 
partment scheme  for  dealing  with  submarines,  which 
was  only  adopted  last  month,  is  there  among  the 
rest." 

"  Anything  else.''  "  Crawshay  asked  indolently. 

The  Chief  of  Police  glanced  first  at  his  questioner 
and  then  at  Hobson. 

"  What  else  should  there  be?  "  he  enquired. 

"  No  idea,"  the  Englishman  replied.  "  Secret 
Service  papers  of  the  usual  description,  I  suppose. 
By-the-by,  I  hear  that  this  man  Jocelyn  Thew  has 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS         9 

stated  openly  that  he  is  going  to  take  all  the  papers 
he  wants  with  him  into  Germany,  and  that  there 
isn't  a  living  soul  can  stop  him." 

Hobson's  square  jaw  was  set  a  little  tighter,  and 
his  narrow  eyes  flashed. 

"  That's  some  boast  to  make,"  he  muttered. 
*'  Kind  of  a  challenge,  isn't  it?  What  do  you  say, 
Mr.  Crawshay  ?  " 

Crawshay,  who  had  been  gazing  out  of  the  window 
of  the  taxicab,  looked  back  again.  His  tone  was  al- 
most indifferent. 

"  If  Chief  Downs  can  get  us  on  the  Limited,"  he 
said,  "  and  if  we  catch  the  City  of  Boston,  I  think 
perhaps  we  might  have  a  chance  of  making  Mr. 
Jocelyn  Thew  eat  his  words." 

The  Chief  smiled.  The  taxicab  had  turned  in 
through  the  entrance  gates  of  the  great  station. 

"  I  have  heard  men  as  well-known  in  their  profes- 
sion as  you,  Hobson,  and  you  too,  Mr.  Crawshay, 
speak  like  that  about  Jocelyn  Thew,  but  when  the 
game  was  played  out  they  seem  to  have  lost  the  odd 
trick.  Either  the  fellow  isn't  a  criminal  at  all  but 
loves  to  haunt  shady  places  and  pose  as  one,  or  he 
is  just  the  cleverest  of  all  the  crooks  who  ever  worked 
the  States.  Some  of  my  best  men  have  thought  that 
they  had  a  case  against  him  and  have  come  to 
grief." 

"  They've  never  caught  him  with  the  goods,  because 
they've  never  been  the  right  way  about  it,"  Hobson 
declared  confidently. 

"  And  you  think  you  are  going  to  break  his  rec- 
ord? "  Downs  asked,  with  a  doubtful  smile.  "  If  yon 
find  him  on  the  City  of  Boston,  you  know,  the  stuff 


lo       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

you're  after  won't  be  in  his  pocketbook  or  in  the 
lining  of  his  steamer  trunk." 

The  three  men  were  hurrying  out  to  the  platform 
now,  where  the  great  train,  a  blaze  of  light  and 
luxury,  was  standing  upon  the  track.  Captain 
Downs  made  his  way  to  where  the  Pullman  conductor 
was  standing  and  engaged  him  in  a  brief  but  earnest 
conversation.  A  car  porter  was  summoned,  and  in 
a  few  moments  Crawshay  and  Hobson  found  them- 
selves standing  on  the  steps  of  one  of  the  cars.  They 
leaned  over  to  make  their  adieux  to  Chief  Downs. 
Crawshay  added  a  few  words  to  his  farewell. 

"  I  quite  appreciate  all  your  remarks  about  Joce- 
lyn  Thew,"  he  said.  "  One  is  liable  to  be  disap- 
pointed, of  course,  but  I  still  feel  that  if  we  can 
catch  that  steamer  it  might  be  an  exceedingly  inter- 
esting voyage." 

"  If  you're  on  time  you  may  do  it,"  was  the  brief 
reply.     "  All  the  same  — " 

The  gong  had  sounded  and  the  train  was  gliding 
slowly  out  of  the  station.  Crawshay  leaned  over 
the  iron  gate  of  the  car. 

"  Go  on,  please,"  he  begged.  "  Don't  mind  my 
feelings." 

Chief  Downs  waved  his  hand. 

"  I'm  afraid,"  he  confessed,  "  that  my  money  would 
be  on  Jocelyn  Thew." 


CHAPTER  II 

At  just  about  the  hour  when  Crawshay  and  Hob- 
son  were  receiving  the  visit  of  Chief  Downs  in  the 
Chicago  hotel  an  English  butler  accepted  with  due 
respect  the  card  of  a  very  distinguished-looking  and 
exceedingly  well-turned-out  caller  at  the  big,  brown- 
stone  Beverley  house  in  Riverside  Drive,  New  York. 

"Miss  Beverley  is  just  back  from  the  hospital, 
sir,"  the  former  announced.  "  If  you  will  come  this 
way,  I  will  see  that  your  card  is  sent  to  her  at  once." 

The  caller  —  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  was  the  name  upon 
the  card  —  followed  the  servant  across  the  white 
stone  circular  hall,  with  its  banked-up  profusion  of 
hothouse  flowers  and  its  air  of  elegant  emptiness, 
into  a  somewhat  austere  but  very  dignified  apart- 
ment, the  walls  of  which  ^vere  lined  to  the  ceiling  with 
books. 

"  I  will  let  Miss  Beverley  have  your  card  at  once, 
sir,"  the  man  promised  him  again,  "  if  you  will  be 
so  kind  as  to  take  a  seat  for  a  few  moments." 

The  visitor,  left  to  himself,  stood  upon  the  hearth- 
rug with  his  hands  behind  his  back,  waiting  for  news 
of  the  young  lady  whom  he  had  come  to  visit.  At 
first  sight  he  certainly  was  a  most  prepossessing- 
looking  person.  His  face,  if  a  httle  hard,  was  dis- 
tinguished by  a  strength  which  for  the  size  of  his 
features  was  somewhat  surprising.  His  chin  was 
like  a  piece  of  iron,  and  although  his  mouth  had 


12       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

more  sensitive  and  softer  lines,  his  dark-blue  eyes 
and  jet-black  eyebrows  completed  a  general  impres- 
sion of  vigour  and  forcefulness.  His  figure  was  a 
little  thin  but  lithe,  and  his  movements  showed  all 
the  suppleness  of  a  man  who  has  continued  the  pur- 
suit of  athletics  into  early  middle-life.  His  hair, 
only  slightly  streaked  with  grey,  was  thick  and  plen- 
tiful. His  clothes  were  carefully  chosen  and  well 
tailored.  He  had  the  air  of  a  man  used  to  mixing 
with  the  best  people,  to  eating  and  drinking  the  best, 
to  living  in  the  best  fashion,  recognising  nothing  less 
as  his  due  in  life.  Yet  as  he  stood  there  waiting  for 
his  visitor,  listening  intently  for  the  sound  of  her 
footsteps  outside,  he  permitted  himself  a  moment  of 
retrospection,  and  there  was  a  gleam  of  very  differ- 
ent things  in  his  face,  a  touch  almost  of  the  savage  in 
the  clenched  teeth  and  sudden  tightening  of  the  lips. 
One  might  have  gathered  that  this  man  was  living 
through  a  period  of  strain. 

The  entrance  of  the  young  lady  of  the  house,  after 
a  delay  of  about  ten  minutes,  was  noiseless  and  un- 
announced. Her  visitor,  however,  was  prepared  for 
it.  She  came  towards  him  with  an  air  of  pleasant 
enquiry  in  her  very  charming  face  —  a  young  woman 
in  the  early  twenties,  of  little  more  than  medium 
height,  with  complexion  inclined  to  be  pale,  deep 
grey  eyes,  and  a  profusion  of  dark  brown,  almost 
copper-coloured  hair.  She  carried  herself  delight- 
fully, and  her  little  smile  of  welcome  was  wonderfully 
attractive,  although  her  deportment  and  manner  were 
a  little  serious  for  her  years. 

"  You  wish  to  see  me?  "  she  asked.  "  I  am  Miss 
Beverley  —  Miss  Katharine  Beverley." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       13 

"  Sometimes  known  as  Sister  Katharine,"  her  vis- 
itor remarked,  with  a  smile. 

"  More  often  than  bj  my  own  name,"  she  assented. 
"  Do  you  come  from  the  hospital.''  " 

He  shook  his  head  and  glanced  behind  her  to  be 
sure  that  the  door  was  closed. 

"  Please  do  not  think  that  my  coming  means  any 
trouble,  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  but  if  you  look  at 
me  more  closely  you  will  perhaps  recognise  me.  You 
will  perhaps  remember  —  a  promise." 

He  stepped  a  little  forward  from  his  position  of 
obscurity  to  where  the  strong  afternoon  sunlight 
found  its  subdued  way  through  the  Holland  blinds. 
The  politely  interrogative  smile  faded  from  her  lips. 
She  seemed  to  pass  through  a  moment  of  terror,  a 
moment  during  which  her  thoughts  were  numbed. 
She  sank  into  the  chair  which  her  visitor  gravely  held 
out  for  her,  and  by  degrees  she  recovered  her  powers 
of  speech. 

"  Forgive  me,"  she  begged.  "  The  name  upon  the 
card  should  have  warned  me  —  but  I  had  no  idea  — 
I  was  not  expecting  a  visit  from  you." 

"  Naturally,"  he  acquiesced  smoothly,  "  and  I  beg 
you  not  to  discompose  yourself.  My  visit  bodes  you 
no  harm  —  neither  you  nor  any  one  belonging  to 
you." 

"  I  was  foolish,"  she  confessed.  "  I  have  been 
working  overtime  at  the  hospital  lately  —  we  have 
sent  so  many  of  our  nurses  to  France.  My  nerves 
are  not  quite  what  they  should  be." 

He  bowed  sympathetically.  His  tone  and  de- 
meanour were  alike  reassuring. 

"  I  quite  understand,"  he  said.     "  Still,  some  day 


14       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

or    other    I    suppose    you    expected    a    visit    from 
me?" 

*'  In  a  way  I  certainly  did,"  she  admitted.  "  You 
must  let  me  know  presently,  please,  exactly  what  I 
can  do.  Don't  think  because  I  was  startled  to  see 
you  that  I  wish  to  repudiate  my  debt.  I  have  never 
ceased  to  be  grateful  to  you  for  your  wonderful  be- 
haviour on  that  ghastly  night." 

"  Please  do  not  refer  to  it,"  he  begged.  "  Your 
brother,  I  hope,  is  well.''  " 

"  He  is  well  and  doing  famously,"  she  replied. 
"  I  suppose  you  know  that  he  is  in  France?  " 

"In  France?"  he  repeated.  "No,  I  had  not 
heard." 

"He  joined  the  Canadian  Flying  Corps,"  she 
went  on,  "  and  he  got  his  wings  almost  at  once.  He 
finds  the  life  out  there  wonderful.  I  never  receive 
a  letter  from  him,"  she  concluded,  her  eyes  growing 
very  soft,  "  that  I  do  not  feel  a  little  thrill  of  grati- 
tude to  you." 

He  bowed. 

'That  is  very  pleasant,"  he  murmured.  "And 
now  we  come  to  the  object  of  my  visit.  Your  sur- 
mise was  correct.  I  have  come  to  ask  you  to  re- 
deem your  word." 

"  And  you  find  me  not  only  ready  but  anxious  to 
do  so,"  she  told  him  earnestly.  "  If  it  is  a  matter 
—  pardon  me  —  of  money,  you  have  only  to  say  how 
much.  If  there  is  any  other  service  you  require, 
you  have  only  to  name  it." 

"  You  make  things  easy  for  me,"  he  acknowledged, 
"  but  may  I  add  that  it  is  only  what  I  expected. 
The  service  which  I  have  come  to  claim  from  vou  is 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS        15 

one  which  is  not  capable  of  full  explanation  but 
which  will  cause  you  little  inconvenience  and  less 
hardship.  You  will  find  it,  without  doubt,  surpris- 
ing, but  I  need  not  add  that  it  will  be  entirely  inno- 
cent in  its  character." 

*'  Then  there  seems  to  be  very  little  left,"  she  de- 
clared, smiling  up  at  him  from  the  depths  of  her 
chair,  "  but  to  name  it.  I  do  wish  you  would  sit 
down,  and  are  you  quite  sure  that  you  won't  have 
some  tea  or  something?  " 

He  shook  his  head  gravely  and  made  no  movement 
towards  the  chair  which  she  had  indicated.  For 
some  reason  or  other,  notwithstanding  her  manifest 
encouragement,  he  seemed  to  wish  to  keep  their  in- 
terview on  a  purely  formal  basis. 

"  Let  me  repeat,"  he  continued,  "  that  I  shall  offer 
you  no  comprehensive  explanations,  because  they 
would  not  be  truthful,  nor  are  they  altogether  nec- 
essary. In  Ward  Number  Fourteen  of  your  hos- 
pital —  you  have  been  so  splendid  a  patroness  that 
every  one  calls  St.  Agnes's  your  hospital  —  a  serious 
operation  was  performed  to-day  upon  an  English- 
man named  Phillips." 

"  I  remember  hearing  about  it,"  she  assented. 
*'  The  man  is,  I  understand,  very  ill." 

"  He  is  so  ill  that  he  has  but  one  wish  left  in  life," 
Jocelyn  Thew  told  her  gravely.  "  That  wish  is  to 
die  in  England.  Just  as  you  are  at  the  present 
moment  in  my  debt  for  a  certain  service  rendered, 
so  am  I  in  his.  He  has  called  upon  me  to  pay.  He 
has  begged  me  to  make  all  the  arrangements  for 
his  immediate  transportation  to  his  native  coun- 
try." 


i6       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

She  nodded  sympatheticaUy. 

"  It  is  a  very  natural  wish,"  she  observed,  "  so  long 
as  it  does  not  endanger  his  life." 

"  It  does  not  endanger  his  life,"  her  visitor  re- 
plied, "  because  that  is  already  forfeit.  I  come  now 
to  the  condition  which  involves  you,  which  explains 
my  presence  here  this  afternoon.  It  is  also  his 
earnest  desire  that  you  should  attend  him  so  far  as 
London  as  his  nurse." 

The  look  of  vague  apprehension  which  had  brought 
a  questioning  frown  into  Katharine  Beverley's  face 
faded  away.  It  was  succeeded  by  an  expression  of 
blank  and  complete  surprise. 

"  That  I  should  nurse  him  —  should  cross  with 
him  to  London.''"  she  repeated.  "Why,  I  do  not 
know  this  man  Phillips.  I  never  saw  him  in  my  life ! 
I  have  not  even  been  in  Ward  Fourteen  since  he  was 
brought  there." 

"  But  he,"  Jocelyn  Thew  explained,  "  has  seen 
you.  He  has  been  a  visitor  at  your  hospital  before 
he  was  received  there  as  a  patient.  He  has  received 
from  various  doctors  wonderful  accounts  of  your 
skill.  Besides  this,  he  is  a  superstitious  man,  and  he 
has  been  very  much  impressed  by  the  fact  that  you 
have  never  lost  a  patient.  If  you  had  been  one  of 
your  own  probationers,  the  question  of  a  fee  would 
have  presented  no  difficulties,  although  he  personally 
is,  I  believe,  a  poor  man.  As  it  is,  however,  his 
strange  craving  for  your  services  has  become  a 
charge  upon  me." 

"  It  is  the  most  extraordinary  request  I  ever 
heard  in  my  life."  Katharine  murmured.  "  If  I  had 
ever  seen  or  spoken  to  the  man,  I  could  have  under- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       17 

stood  it  better,  but  as  it  is,  I  find  it  impossible  to 
understand." 

"  You  must  look  upon  it,"  Jocelyn  Thew  told  her, 
"  as  one  of  those  strange  fancies  which  comes  some- 
times to  men  who  are  living  in  the  shadowland  of 
approaching  death.  There  is  one  material  circum- 
stance, however,  which  may  make  the  suggestion  even 
more  disconcerting  for  you.  The  steamer  upon 
which  we  hope  to  sail  leaves  at  four  o'clock  to-morrow 
afternoon." 

The  idea  in  this  new  aspect  was  so  ludicrous  that 
she  simply  laughed  at  him. 

"  My  dear  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew !  "  she  exclaimed. 
*'  You  can't  possibly  be  in  earnest !  You  mean  that 
you  expect  me  to  leave  New  York  with  less  than 
twenty-four  hours'  notice,  and  go  all  the  way  to 
London  in  attendance  upon  a  stranger,  especially 
in  these  awful  times?  Why,  the  thing  isn't  reason- 
able—  or  possible!  I  have  just  consented  to  take 
the  chairmanship  of  a  committee  to  form  field  hos- 
pitals throughout  the  country,  and  — " 

"  May  I  interrupt  for  one  moment .?  "  her  visitor 
begged. 

The  stream  of  words  seemed  to  fall  away  from 
her  lips.  There  was  a  touch  of  Jocelyn  Thew's 
other  manner  —  perhaps  more  than  a  touch.  She 
looked  at  him  and  she  shivered.  She  had  seen  him 
look  like  that  once  before. 

"Your  attitude  is  perfectly  reasonable,"  he  con- 
tinued, "but  on  the  other  hand  I  must  ask  you  to 
carry  your  thoughts  back  some  little  time.  I  shall 
beg  you  to  remember  that  I  have  a  certain  right  to 
ask  this  or  any  other  service  from  you." 


i8       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  admit  it,"  she  confessed  hastily,  "  but  —  there 
is  something  so  outlandish  in  the  whole  suggestion. 
There  are  a  score  of  nurses  in  the  hospital  to  any 
one  of  whom  you  are  welcome,  who  are  all  much 
cleverer  than  I.  What  possible  advantage  to  the 
man  can  it  be,  especially  if  he  is  seriously  ill,  to  have 
a  partially-trained  nurse  with  him  when  he  might 
have  the  best  in  the  world?  " 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  I  mentioned  that  this  is  not 
a  matter  for  reasoning  or  argument.  It  is  you 
who  are  required,  and  no  one  else.  I  may  remind 
you,"  he  went  on,  *'  that  this  service  is  a  very  much 
smaller  one  than  I  might  have  asked  you,  and,  so  far 
as  you  and  I  are  concerned,  it  clears  our  debt." 

"  Clears  our  debt,"  she  repeated. 

"  For  ever !  " 

She  closed  her  eyes  for  several  moments.  For 
some  reason  or  other,  this  last  reflection  seemed  to 
bring  her  no  particular  relief.  When  she  opened 
them  again,  her  decision  was  written  in  her  face. 

"  I  consent,  of  course,"  she  acquiesced  quietly. 
"  Is  there  anything  more  to  tell  me?  " 

"  Very  little,"  he  replied,  "  only  this.  You  should 
send  your  baggage  on  board  the  City  of  Boston  as 
early  as  possible  to-morrow  morning.  Every  ar- 
rangement has  been  made  for  transporting  Phillips 
in  his  bed,  as  he  lies,  from  the  hospital  to  the  boat. 
The  doctor  who  has  been  in  attendance  will  accom- 
pany him  to  England,  but  it  is  important  that  you 
should  be  at  the  hospital  and  should  drive  in  the 
ambulance  from  there  to  the  dock.  I  shall  ask  very 
little  of  you  in  the  way  of  duplicity.  What  is 
necessary  you  will  not,  I  think,  refuse.     You  will 


ThE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       ig 

be  considered  to  have  had  some  former  interest  in 
Phillips,  to  account  for  your  voyage,  and  you  will 
reconcile  yourself  to  the  fact  that  I  shall  not  at  any 
time  approach  the  sick  man,  or  be  known  as  an 
acquaintance  of  his  on  board  the  ship." 

His  words  disturbed  her.  She  felt  herself  being 
drawn  under  the  shadow  of  some  mystery. 

"  There  is  something  in  all  this,"  she  said,  "  which 
reminds  me  of  the  time  when  Richard  was  your  pro- 
tege, the  time  when  we  met  before." 

He  leaned  towards  her,  understanding  very  well 
what  was  in  her  mind. 

"  There  is  nothing  criminal  in  this  enterprise  — 
even  in  my  share  of  it,"  he  assured  her.  "  What 
there  is  in  it  which  necessitates  secrecy  is  political, 
and  that  need  not  concern  you.  You  see,"  he  went 
on,  a  little  bitterly,  "  I  have  changed  my  role.  I  am 
no  longer  the  despair  of  the  New  York  police.  I  am 
the  quarry  of  a  race  of  men  who,  if  they  could  catch 
me,  would  not  wait  to  arrest.  That  may  happen  even 
before  we  reach  Liverpool.  If  it  does,  it  will  not 
affect  you.  Your  duty  is  to  stay  with  a  dying  man 
until  he  reaches  the  shelter  of  his  home.  You  will 
leave  him  there,  and  you  will  be  free  of  him  and  of 
me." 

"  So  far  as  regards  our  two  selves,"  she  enquired, 
"do  we  meet  as  strangers  upon  the  steamer?" 

He  considered  the  matter  for  a  few  moments  be- 
fore answering.  She  felt  another  poignant  thrill 
of  recollection.  He  had  looked  at  her  like  this  just 
before  he  had  bent  his  back  to  the  task  of  saving 
her  brother's  life  and  liberty,  looked  at  her  like  this 
the   moment   before   the   unsuspected   revolver   had 


20       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

flashed  from  the  pocket  of  his  dress-coat  and  had 
covered  the  man  who  had  suddenly  declared  himself 
their  foe.  She  felt  her  cheeks  burn  for  a  moment. 
There  was  something  magnetic,  curiously  troublous 
about  his  eyes  and  his  faint  smile. 

"  I  cannot  deny  myself  so  much,"  he  said,  "  Even 
if  our  opportunities  for  meeting  upon  the  steamer 
are  few,  I  shall  still  have  the  pleasure  of  a  New  York 
acquaintance  with  Miss  Beverley.  You  need  not  be 
afraid,"  he  went  on.  "  In  this  wonderful  country 
of  yours,  the  improbable  frequently  happens.  I  have 
before  now  visited  at  the  houses  of  some  whom  you 
call  your  friends." 

"  Why  not.?  "  she  asked  him.  "  I  should  look  upon 
it  as  the  most  natural  thing  in  the  world  that  we 
were  acquainted.  But  why  do  you  say  '  your  coun- 
try ^?     Are  you  not  an  American?  " 

He  looked  at  her  with  a  very  faint  smile,  a  smile 
which  had  nothing  in  it  of  pleasantness  or  mirth. 

"  I  have  so  few  secrets,"  he  said.  "  The  only  one 
which  I  elect  to  keep  is  the  secret  of  my  nationality." 

She  raised  her  eyebrows. 

"  Then  you  can  no  longer,"  she  observed,  "  be  con- 
sidered what  my  brother  and  I  once  thought  you  —  a 
man  of  mysteries  —  for  with  your  voice  and  accent 
it  is  very  certain  that  you  are  either  English  or 
American." 

"  If  it  affords  you  any  further  clue,  then,"  he 
replied,  "  let  me  confide  in  you  that  if  there  is  one 
country  in  this  world  which  I  detest,  it  is  England; 
one  race  of  people  whom  I  abominate,  it  is  the  Eng- 
lish." 

She  showed  her  surprise  frankly,  but  his  manner 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       2i 

encouraged  no  further  confidence.  She  touched  the 
bell,  and  he  bowed  over  her  fingers. 

"  Mj  friend  Phillips,"  he  said,  in  formal  accents, 
as  the  butler  stood  upon  the  threshold,  "  ^dll  never 
live,  I  fear,  to  offer  you  all  the  gratitude  he  feels, 
but  you  are  doing  a  very  kind  and  a  very  wonderful 
action,  Miss  Beverley,  and  one  which  I  think  will 
bring  its  own  reward." 

He  passed  out  of  the  room,  leaving  Katharine  a 
prey  to  a  curious  tangle  of  emotions.  She  watched 
him  almost  feverishly  until  he  had  disappeared,  lis- 
tened to  his  footsteps  in  the  hall  and  the  closing  of 
the  front  door.  Then  she  hurried  to  the  window, 
watched  him  descend  the  row  of  steps,  pass  down 
the  little  drive  and  hail  a  taxicab.  It  was  not  until 
he  was  out  of  sight  that  she  became  in  any  way 
like  herself.     Then  she  broke  into  a  little  laugh. 

"  Heavens  alive ! "  she  exclaimed  to  herself. 
"  Now  I  have  to  find  Aunt  Molly  and  tell  her  that 
I  am  going  to  Europe  to-morrow  with  a  perfect 
stranger ! " 


CHAPTER  III 

Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  descended  presently  from  his 
taxicab  outside  one  of  the  largest  and  most  cosmo- 
politan hotels  in  New  York  —  or  the  world.  He 
made  his  way  with  the  air  of  an  habitue  to  the  bar, 
the  precincts  of  which,  at  that  time  in  the  late  after- 
noon, were  crowded  by  a  motley  gathering.  He 
ordered  a  Scotch  highball,  and  gently  insinuated 
himself  into  the  proximity  of  a  group  of  newspaper 
men  with  whom  he  seemed  to  have  some  slight  ac- 
quaintance. It  was  curious  how,  since  his  arrival  in 
this  democratic  meeting-place,  his  manners  and  de- 
portment seemed  to  have  slipped  to  a  lower  grade. 
He  seemed  as  though  by  -an  effort  of  will  to  have  lost 
something  of  his  natural  air  of  distinction,  to  be 
treading  the  earth  upon  a  lower  plane.  He  saluted 
the  barkeeper  by  his  Christian  name,  listened  with 
apparent  interest  to  an  exceedingly  commonplace 
story  from  one  of  his  neighbours,  and  upon  its  con- 
clusion drew  a  little  nearer  to  the  group. 

"  Say,"  he  exclaimed  confidentially,  "  if  I  felt  in 
the  humour  for  it  I  could  hand  you  boys  out  a  great 
scoop." 

They  were  on  him  like  a  pack  of  hungry  though 
dubious  wolves.  He  pushed  his  glass  out  of  sight, 
accepted  one  of  the  drinks  pressed  upon  him,  and 
leaned  nonchalantly  against  the  counter. 

"  What   should   you   say,"  he   began,   "  to   Miss 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       23 

Katharine  Beverley,  the  New  York  society  young 
lady  — " 

"Sister  Katharine  of  St.  Agnes's?  "  one  of  them 
interrupted. 

"  Daughter  of  old  Joe  Beverley,  the  multi-million- 
aire? "  another  exclaimed. 

"  Both  right,"  Jocelyn  Thew  acquiesced.  "  What 
should  you  say  to  that  young  woman  leaving  her 
hospital  and  her  house  in  Riverside  Drive,  breaking 
all  her  engagements  at  less  than  twenty-four  hours' 
notice,  to  take  a  sick  Englishman  whom  no  one  knows 
anything  about,  back  to  Liverpool  on  the  City  of 
Boston  to-morrow?  " 

"  The  story's  good  enough,"  a  ferret-faced  little 
man  at  his  elbow  acknowledged,  "  but  is  it  true?  " 

Jocel}Ti  Thew  regarded  his  questioner  with  an  air 
of  pained  surprise. 

"  It's  Gospel,"  he  assured  them  all,  "  but  you  don't 
need  to  take  my  word.  You  go  right  along  up  and 
enquire  at  the  Beverley  house  to-night,  and  you'll 
find  that  she  is  packing.  Made  up  her  mind  just  an 
hour  ago.     I'm  about  the  only  one  in  the  know." 

"  Who's  the  man,  anyway?  "  one  of  the  little  group 
asked. 

"  Nothing  doing,"  Jocelyn  Thew  replied  mysteri- 
ously. "  You've  got  to  find  that  out  for  yourself, 
boys.  All  I  can  tell  you  is  that  he's  an  Englishman, 
and  she  has  known  him  for  a  long  time  —  kind  of 
love  stunt,  I  imagine.  She  wasn't  having  any,  but 
now  he's  at  death's  door  she  seems  to  have  relented. 
Anyway,  she  is  breaking  every  engagement  she's  got, 
giving  up  her  chairmanship  of  the  War  Hospitals 
Committee,  and  she  isn't  going  to  leave  him  while 


24       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

he's  alive.  There's  no  other  nurse  going,  so  it'll  be 
a  night  and  day  job  for  her." 

"What's  the  matter  with  the  chap,  anyway?" 
another  questioner  demanded. 

"  No  one  knows  for  sure,"  was  the  cautious  reply. 
"  He's  been  operated  upon  for  appendicitis,  but  I 
fancy  there  are  complications.  Not  much  chance 
for  him,  from  what  I  have  heard." 

The  little  crowd  of  men  melted  away.  Jocelyn 
Thew  smiled  to  himself  on  his  way  out,  as  he  watched 
four  of  them  climb  into  a  taxicab. 

"  That  establishes  Phillips  all  right  as  Miss  Bev- 
erley's protege,"  he  murmured,  as  he  turned  into 
Fifth  Avenue.     "  And  now  — " 

He  stopped  short  in  his  reflections.  His  careful 
scrutiny  of  the  heterogeneous  crowd  gathered  to- 
gether around  the  bar  had  revealed  to  him  no  un- 
familiar type  save  the  little  man  who  at  that  mo- 
ment was  ambling  along  on  the  other  side  of  the  way. 
Jocelj'n  Thew  slackened  his  pace  somewhat  and 
watched  him  keenly.  He  was  short,  he  wore  a  cheap 
ready-made  suit  of  some  plain  material,  and  a  straw 
hat  tilted  on  the  back  of  his  head.  He  had  round 
cheeks,  he  shambled  rather  than  walked,  and  his 
vacuous  countenance  seemed  both  good-natured  and 
unintelligent.  To  all  appearances  a  more  harmless 
person  never  breathed,  yet  Jocelyn  Thew,  as  he  stud- 
ied him  earnestly,  felt  that  slight  tightening  of  the 
nerves  which  came  to  him  almost  instinctively  in 
moments  of  danger.  He  changed  his  purpose  and 
turned  down  Fifth  Avenue  instead  of  up.  The  little 
man,  it  appeared,  had  business  in  the  same  direction. 
Jocelyn  Thew  walked  the  length  of  several  blocks 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS   25 

in  leisurely  fashion  and  then  entered  an  hotel,  studi- 
ously avoiding  looking  behind  him.  He  made  his 
way  into  a  telephone  booth  and  looked  through  the 
glass  door.  His  follower  in  a  few  moments  was 
visible,  making  apparently  some  aimless  enquiry 
across  the  counter.  Jocelyn  Thew  turned  his  back 
upon  him  and  asked  the  operator  for  a  number. 

"Number  238  Park  waiting,"  the  latter  an- 
nounced, a  few  moments  later. 

Jocelyn  Thew  reentered  the  box  and  took  up  the 
receiver. 

"  That  you,  RentouL?  "  he  asked. 

"  Speaking,"  was  the  guarded  reply.  "  Who  is 
it.?  " 

"  Jocelyn  Thew.  Say,  what's  wrong  with  you.-* 
Don't  go  away." 

"What  is  it.?      Speak  quickly,  please." 

"  You  seem  rather  nervy  up  there.  I'm  off  to 
Europe  to-morrow  on  the  City  of  Boston,  and  I 
should  like  to  see  you  before  I  go." 

There  was  a  moment's  silence. 

"  Why  don't  you  come  up  here,  then?  " 

"  I'd  rather  not,"  Jocelyn  Thew  observed  lacon- 
ically. "  The  fact  of  it  is,  I  have  a  friend  around 
who  doesn't  seem  to  care  about  losing  sight  of  me. 
If  you  are  going  to  be  anywhere  around  near 
Jimmy's,  about  seven  o'clock  — " 

"  That  goes,"  was  the  somewhat  agitated  reply. 
"  Ring  off  now.  There's  some  one  else  waiting  to 
speak." 

Jocelyn  Thew  paid  for  his  telephone  call  and 
walked  leisurely  out  of  the  hotel  with  a  smile  upon 
his  lips.     The  stimulus  of  danger  was  like  wine  to 


26       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

him.  ^he  little  man  was  choosing  a  cigar  at  the 
stall.  As  he  leaned  down  to  light  it,  Jocelyn  Thew's 
practised  eye  caught  the  shape  of  a  revolver  in  his 
hip  pocket. 

"  English,"  he  murmured  softly  to  himself. 
"  Probably  one  of  Crawshay's  lot,  preparing  a  re- 
port for  him  when  he  returns  from  Chicago." 

With  an  anticipatory  smile,  he  entered  upon  the 
task  of  shaking  off  his  unwelcome  follower.  He 
passed  with  the  confident  air  of  a  member  into  a 
big  club  situated  in  an  adjoining  block,  left  it  almost 
at  once  by  a  side  entrance,  found  a  taxicab,  drove 
to  a  subway  station  up-town,  and  finally  caught  an 
express  back  again  to  Fourteenth  Street.  Here  he 
entered  without  hesitation  a  small,  foreign-looking 
restaurant  which  intruded  upon  the  pavement  only 
a  few  yards  from  the  iron  staircase  by  which  he  de- 
scended from  the  station.  There  were  two  faded 
evergreen  shrubs  in  cracked  pots  at  the  bottom  of 
the  steps,  soiled  muslin  curtains  drawn  across  the 
lower  half  of  the  windows,  dejected-looking  green 
shutters  which  had  the  appearance  of  being  per- 
manently nailed  against  the  walls,  and  a  general  air 
of  foreign  and  tawdry  profligacy.  Jocelyn  Thew 
stepped  into  a  room  on  the  right-hand  side  of  the 
entrance  and,  making  his  way  to  the  window,  glanced 
cautiously  out.  There  was  no  sign  anywhere  of  the 
little  man.  Then  he  turned  towards  the  bar,  around 
which  a  motley  group  of  Italians  and  Hungarians 
were  gathered.  The  linen-clad  negro  who  presided 
there  met  his  questioning  glance  with  a  slight  nod, 
and  the  visitor  passed  without  hesitation  through  a 
curtained  opening  to  the  rear  of  the  place,  along  a 


1*HE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       27 

passage,  up  a  flight  of  narrow  stairs  until  he  ar- 
rived at  a  door  on  the  first  landing.  He  knocked 
and  was  at  once  bidden  to  enter.  1  or  a  moment  he 
listened  as  though  to  the  sounds  below.  Then  he 
slipped  into  the  room  and  closed  the  door  behind 
him. 

The  apartment  was  everything  which  might  have 
been  expected,  save  for  the  profusion  of  flowers.  The 
girl  who  greeted  him,  however,  was  different.  She 
was  of  medium  height  and  dark,  with  dark  brown  hair 
plaited  close  back  from  an  almost  ivory-coloured 
forehead.  Her  grey  eyes  were  soft  and  framed  in 
dark  lines.  Her  eyebrows  were  noticeable,  her 
mouth  full  but  shapely.  Her  discontented  expres- 
sion changed  entirely  as  she  held  out  both  her  hands 
to  her  visitor.  Her  welcome  was  eager,  almost  pas- 
sionate. 

"  Mr.  Thew !  "  she  exclaimed. 

He  held  up  his  hand  as  though  to  check  further 
speech,  and  listened  for  a  moment  intently. 

"  How  are  things  here.'*  "  he  asked. 

"  Quiet,"  she  assured  him.  "  You  couldn't  have 
come  at  a  better  time.  Every  one's  away.  Is  there 
anything  wrong?  " 

"  I  am  being  followed,"  he  told  her,  "  and  I  don't 
like  it  —  just  now,  at  any  rate." 

"  Any  one  else  coming.?  "  she  enquired. 

"  Rentoul,"  he  told  her.  "  He  is  in  a  mortal  fright 
at  having  to  come.  They  found  his  wireless,  and 
they  are  watching  his  house.  I  must  see  him,  though, 
before  I  go  away." 

"  Going  away  ?  "  she  echoed.  "  When .''  When, 
are  you  going.''  " 


28       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  To-morrow,"  he  replied,  "  I  sail  for  London." 

She  seemed  for  a  moment  absolutely  speechless, 
consumed  by  a  sort  of  silent  passion  that  found  no 
outlet  in  words.  She  gripped  a  fancy  mat  which 
covered  an  ornate  table  by  her  side,  and  dragged 
a  begilded  vase  on  to  the  floor  without  even  noticing 
it.  She  leaned  towards  him.  The  little  lines  at  the 
sides  of  her  eyes  were  suddenly  deep-riven  like  scars. 
Her  eyes  themselves  were  smouldering  with  fire. 

"  You  are  going  to  England !  " 

"  That  is  what  I  propose,"  he  assented.  "  I  am 
sailing  on  the  City  of  Boston  to-morrow  afternoon." 

"  But  the  risk !  "  she  faltered.  "  I  thought  that 
you  dared  not  set  foot  in  England." 

"  There  is  risk,"  he  admitted.  "  It  is  not  easy  to 
amuse  oneself  anywhere  without  it.  I  have  been  of- 
fered a  hundred  thousand  pounds  to  superintend  the 
conveyance  of  certain  documents  and  a  certain  letter 
to  Berlin.  The  adventure  appeals  to  me,  and  I  have 
undertaken  it.  Until  I  found  this  man  following 
me  this  afternoon,  I  really  believed  that  we  had  put 
every  one  oif  the  track.  I  know  for  a  fact  that 
most  of  the  American  officials  believe  that  the  papers 
for  which  they  have  searched  so  long  and  anxiously 
are  in  that  trunk  with  the  broken  seals  which  they 
found  at  Halifax." 

"  What  about  the  Englishman,  Crawshay,  and 
Sam  Hobson?  "  the  girl  asked. 

"  They  are  not  quite  so  credulous,"  he  replied, 
"  but  at  the  present  moment  the}'  are  in  Chicago, 
and  if  we  get  off  at  four  o'clock  punctually  to-morrow 
afternoon,  I  scarcely  think  I  shall  be  troubled  with 
their  presence  on  the  City  of  Boston.^* 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       29 

"  I  have  been  reading  about  the  trunk,"  the  girl 
said.     "Is  it  really  a  fake?" 

"  Entirely,"  he  assured  her.  "  There  is  not  a 
single  document  in  it  which  concerns  either  us  or 
our  friends.  Everything  that  is  of  vital  importance 
will  be  on  the  City  of  Boston  to-morrow  and  under 
my  charge." 

She  looked  at  him  wonderingly. 

"  But,  Mr.  Thew,"  she  exclaimed,  "  you  are  clever, 
I  know  —  even  wonderful  —  but  what  possible  chance 
have  you  of  getting  those  things  through  —  on  an 
American  steamer,  too  !  " 

"  I  have  to  take  my  risks,  of  course,"  he  admitted 
coolly,  "  but  the  game  is  worth  it.  I  can't  live  with- 
out excitement,  as  you  know,  and  it's  getting  harder 
and  harder  to  find  on  this  side  of  the  ocean.  Be- 
sides, there  is  the  money.  I  can  think  of  several 
uses  for  a  hundred  thousand  pounds." 

She  caught  his  wrist  suddenly  and  leaned  across 
the  table. 

"  Can  I  come  with  you.''  "  she  asked  breathlessly. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  I  shouldn't  advise  a  sea  voyage  just  now,  Nora," 
he  said.  "  It  isn't  exactly  a  picnic,  nowadays.  Be- 
sides, if  you  come  on  the  Citi/  of  Boston  there  will 
be  more  than  one  danger  to  be  faced." 

"  Danger ! "  she  exclaimed  contemptuously. 
"Have  I  ever  shown  myself  afraid.''  Have  we  any 
of  us  —  my  brother  or  father  or  I  —  hesitated  to 
run  any  possible  risk  when  it  was  worth  while.''  This 
house  has  been  yours,  and  we  in  it,  to  do  what  you 
will  with.  It  isn't  a  matter  of  danger  • —  you  know 
that.     I  come  or  go  as  you  bid  me." 


30       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

He  met  the  fierce  enquiry  of  her  eyes  without 
flinching.  Only  his  tone  was  a  little  kinder  as  he 
answered  her. 

"  I  think,  Nora,"  he  said,  "  that  you  had  better 
stay." 

There  was  a  timid  but  persistent  knocking  at  the 
door,  and,  in  response  to  Nora's  invitation,  a  fat 
and  bloated  man  entered  the  room  hurriedly.  He 
sank  into  a  chair  and  mopped  the  perspiration  from 
his  forehead.  Jocelyn  Thew  watched  him  with  an 
air  of  contemptuous  amusement. 

"  You  seem  distressed,  Rentoul,"  he  remarked. 
*'  Has  anything  gone  wrong.''  " 

"  But  it  is  terrible,  this !  "  the  newcomer  declared. 
"  Anything  gone  wrong,  indeed !  Listen.  The  po- 
lice have  made  themselves  free  of  my  house.  My 
beautiful  wireless  —  it  was  only  a  hobby  —  it  has 
gone !  They  open  my  letters.  They  will  ruin  me. 
Never  did  I  think  that  this  would  arrive!  There 
has  been  some  terrible  bungling !  " 

"  And  you,"  Jocelyn  Thew  retorted,  "  seem  to  have 
been  the  arch  bungler." 

"  I.''  But  what  have  I  done?  "  Rentoul  demanded, 
wringing  his  hands.  *'  I  have  always  obeyed  orders. 
Even  a  hint  has  been  enough.  I  have  spent  a  great 
deal  of  money  —  much  more  than  I  could  afford. 
What  have  I  done  wrong.''  " 

"  You  have  talked  too  much,  for  one  thing,"  was 
the  cold  reply,  "  but  we  haven't  time  for  recrimina- 
tions now.     How  did  you  get  here?  " 

"  I  came  in  my  car.  You  will  perhaps  say  that 
it  was  not  wise,  but  I  could  not  have  stood  the  sub- 
way.    My  nerves  are  all  rotten." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       31 

Jocelyn  Thew's  tone  and  gesture  were  smoothly 
disdainful. 

"  You  are  quite  right,"  he  agreed.  "  You  have 
lost  what  you  call  your  nerve.  You  had  better  send 
for  the  newspaper  men,  give  them  plenty  of  cham- 
pagne, and  explain  what  a  loyal  American  citizen  you 
are.     Have  you  burnt  everything?  " 

"  Every  scrap  of  paper  in  the  house  which  con- 
cerns a  certain  matter  is  burnt,"  Rentoul  declared. 

"It  would  be!" 

"  But  I  am  in  the  right,"  the  agitated  man  pro- 
tested vigorously.  "  For  five  years  we  have  worked 
and  with  good  result.  It  is  finished  with  us  now 
for  the  present.  There  is  no  one  who  would  dare 
to  continue.  Five  long  years,  mind  you,  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew.     That  is  worth  something,  eh?  " 

"  Whatever  it  may  be  worth,"  was  the  somewhat 
grim  reply,  "  will  be  decided  within  the  next  fort- 
night.    That  doesn't  concern  you,  though." 

"  You  are  not  staj-ing  over  here  now  that  the  war 
has  come?  " 

"  Not  I !  But  listen.  There  is  no  need  for  you  to 
know  where  I  am  going,  and  I  am  not  going  to  tell 
you.  There  is  no  need  for  you  to  remember  that 
you  ever  knew  me  in  your  life.  There  is  no  need 
for  you  to  remember  any  of  the  work  in  which  you 
have  been  engaged.  Your  propaganda  has  devel- 
oped a  few  strong  men  in  this  country  and  discovered 
a  good  deal  of  pulp.  You  are  part  of  the  pulp. 
There  is  only  one  other  thing.  If  you  should  be 
heard  of,  Rentoul,  shall  we  say  telephoning,  or  call- 
ing upon  the  police  here,  offering  to  seU  —  No,  by 
God,  you  don't  1 " 


32   THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

The  man's  furtive  tug  at  his  hip  pocket  was  al- 
most pathetic  in  its  futility.  Jocelyn  Thew  had  him 
hy  the  throat,  holding  hira  with  one  hand  well  away 
from  him,  a  quivering  mass  of  discoloured,  terrified 
flesh. 

"  Now  you  know,"  he  continued  coolly,  "  why  I 
sent  for  you,  Rentoul.  Now  you  know  why  I  rather 
preferred  to  see  you  here  to  coming  to  your  Fifth 
Avenue  mansion.  I  don't  like  traps  —  I  don't  like 
traitors." 

"  I  give  you  my  word,"  the  breathless  man  began, 
"  my  word  of  honour  — " 

"  Neither  would  interest  me,"  the  other  interrupted 
grimly.  "  You  are  to  be  trusted  just  as  far  as  you 
can  be  seen,  just  as  far  as  your  own  safety  and  wel- 
fare depend  upon  your  fidelity.  You  needn't  be  so 
terrified,"  he  went  on  as,  leaning  over,  he  took  the 
revolver  from  Rentoul's  pocket,  drew  out  the  car- 
tridges and  threw  it  upon  the  table.  "  You've  earned 
any  ugly  thing  that  might  be  coming  to  you,  but  I 
should  think  it  very  probable  that  you  will  be  able 
to  go  on  over-feeding  your  filthy  carcass  for  a  few 
more  years.  First  of  all,  though,  perhaps  you 
had  better  tell  me  exactly  why  you  have  an  appoint- 
ment with  Mr.  Harrison,  from  Police  Headquarters, 
at  eleven  o'clock  to-morrow  morning?  " 

Rentoul  was  white  to  the  lips. 

"  I  wanted  to  explain  about  the  wireless,"  he  fal- 
tered. 

"  That  sounds  very  probable,"  was  the  contemptu- 
ous reply.     "What  else?" 

"Nothing!" 

Jocelyn  Thew   shrugged  his   shoulders.     His  vie- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       33 

tim  cowered  before  him.  For  the  first  time  the  girl 
moved.  She  came  a  little  nearer,  and  there  was  fury 
in  her  eyes  as  she  looked  down  upon  the  terrified 
man. 

"  We  could  keep  him  here,"  she  whispered.  "  Ned 
Grimes  and  some  of  the  others  will  be  in  soon. 
There  are  plenty  of  ways  of  getting  rid  of  him  for 
a  time." 

"  It  wouldn't  be  worth  while,"  Thew  said  simply. 
"  One  doesn't  commit  crimes  for  such  carrion." 

Rentoul  had  struggled  into  a  sitting  posture.  He 
was  dabbing  feebly  at  his  forehead  with  an  over- 
perfumed  handkerchief. 

"  I  wanted  to  make  peace  at  Headquarters,"  he 
whined.  "  I  want  to  be  left  alone.  I  should  not 
have  told  them  anything." 

"  That  may  or  may  not  be,"  Jocelyn  Thew  re- 
plied. "  All  that  I  am  fairly  sure  of  is  that  you  will 
keep  your  mouth  shut  now.  You  know,"  he  went  on, 
his  voice  growing  a  shade  more  menacing,  "  that  I 
never  threaten  where  I  do  not  perform.  I  may  not 
be  over  here  myself,  but  there  will  be  a  few  men 
left  in  New  York,  and  one  word  from  your  lips  — 
even  a  hint  —  and  your  life  will  pay  the  forfeit  within 
twenty-four  hours.  You  will  be  watched  for  a  time 
—  you  and  a  few  others  of  your  kidney  —  watched 
until  the  time  has  gone  by  when  anything  you  could 
say  or  do  would  be  of  account." 

"  Have  you  anything  more  to  say  to  me .''  "  the 
man  stammered.     "  I  feel  faint." 

His  persecutor  threw  open  the  door. 

"  Nothing !  Get  into  your  car  and  drive  home. 
Keep  out  of  sight  and  hearing  for  a  time.     You  are 


34   THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

no  particular  ornament  nor  any  use  to  any  country, 
but  remember  that  everything  you  have  done,  you 
have  done  when  the  country  of  your  birth  was  in 
trouble  and  the  country  of  your  adoption  was  at 
peace.  The  situation  is  altered.  The  country  of 
which  you  are  a  naturalised  citizen  is  now  at  war. 
You  had  better  remember  it,  and  decide  for  yourself 
where  your  duty  lies." 

They  listened  to  his  heavy  footsteps  as  he  de- 
scended the  stairs.  Then  the  girl  turned  to  her 
companion. 

"  Mr.  Thew,"  she  began,  "  you  are  not  a  German 
or  an  Austrian,  yet  you  are  doing  their  work,  risking 
your  life  every  day.     Is  it  for  money.?  " 

"  No,"  he  replied,  "  in  a  general  way  it  is  not  for 
money." 

"  What  is  it,  then?  "  she  asked  curiously. 

He  stood  looking  out  across  the  roofs  and  at  the 
distant  skyscrapers.  She  watched  him  without 
speaking.  She  knew  very  well  that  his  eyes  saw 
nothing  of  the  landscape.  He  was  looking  back 
into  some  world  of  his  own  fancy,  back,  perhaps,  into 
the  shadows  of  his  own  life,  concerning  which  no 
word  that  she  or  any  one  else  in  the  city  had  ever 
heard  had  passed  his  lips. 


CHAPTER  IV 

The  two  men  —  Crawshay  and  Sam  Hobson  — 
still  a  little  breathless,  stood  at  the  end  of  the  dock, 
gazing  out  towards  the  river.  Around  them  was  a 
slowly  dispersing  crowd  of  sig'htseers,  friends  and 
relations  of  the  passengers  on  board  the  great  Amer- 
ican liner,  ploughing  her  way  down  the  river  amidst 
the  shrieks  and  hoots  of  her  attendant  tugs.  Out 
on  the  horizon,  beyond  the  Statue  of  Liberty,  two 
long,  grey,  sinister  shapes  were  waiting.  Hobson 
glanced  at  them  gloomily. 

"  Guess  those  are  our  destroyers  going  to  take  the 
City  of  Boston  some  of  the  way  across,"  he  observed. 
"  To  think,  with  all  this  fuss  about,  that  she  must 
go  and  start  an  hour  before  her  time !  " 

"  It's  filthy  luck,"  the  Englishman  muttered. 

The  crowd  grew  thinner  and  thinner,  yet  the  two 
men  made  no  movement  towards  departure.  It 
seemed  to  Crawshay  impossible  that  after  all  they 
had  gone  through  they  should  have  failed.  The 
journey  in  the  fast  motor  car,  after  a  breakdown  of 
the  Chicago  Limited,  rushing  through  the  night  like 
some  live  monster,  tearing  now  through  a  plain  of 
level  lights,  as  they  passed  through  some  great  city, 
vomiting  fire  and  flame  into  the  black  darkness  of 
the  country  places.  It  was  like  the  ride  of  madmen, 
and  more  than  once  they  had  both  hung  on  to  their 
seats  in  something  wliich  was  almost  terror. 


36   THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  How  are  we  going?  "  Crawshay  had  asked  per- 
petually. 

"  Still  that  infernal  half-hour,"  was  the  continual 
reply.  "  We  are  doing  seventy,  but  we  don't  seem 
to  be  able  to  work  it  down." 

A  powerful  automobile  had  taken  them  through 
the  streets  of  New  York,  and  lay  now  a  wreck  in 
one  of  the  streets  a  mile  from  the  dock.  They  had 
finished  the  journey  in  a  taxicab,  and  the  finish  had 
been  this  —  half  an  hour  late !  Yet  they  lingered, 
with  their  eyes  fixed  upon  the  disappearing  ship. 

"  I  guess  there's  nothing  more  we  can  do,"  Hob- 
son  said  at  last  grudgingly.  "  We  can  lay  it  up  for 
them  on  the  other  side,  and  we  can  talk  to  her  all 
the  way  to  Liverpool  on  the  wireless,  but  if  there  is 
any  scoop  to  be  made  the  others'll  get  it  —  not  us." 

"  If  only  we  could  have  got  on  board !  "  Crawshay 
muttered.     "  It's  no  use  thinking  of  a  tug,  I  sup- 


pose 


?  " 


The  American  shook  his  head. 

"  She's  too  far  out,"  he  replied  gloomily. 
"  There's  nothing  to  be  hired  that  could  catch  her." 

Crawshay's  hand  had  suddenly  stolen  to  his  chin. 
There  was  a  queer  hght  in  his  eyes.  He  clutched 
at  his  companion's  arm. 

"  You're  wrong,  Hobson,"  he  exclaimed.  "  There 
is !  Come  right  along  with  me.  We  can  talk  as  we 
go." 

"  Are  you  crazy?  "  the  American  demanded. 

"  Not  quite,"  the  other  answered.  "  Hurry  up, 
man." 

"Where  to?" 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       37 

"  To  New  Jersey.  I've  got  Government  orders, 
endorsed  by  your  own  Secretary  of  War.  It's  a 
hundred  to  one  they  won't  listen  to  me,  but  we've  got 
to  try  it." 

He  was  already  dragging  his  companion  down  the 
wooden  way.  His  whole  expression  had  changed. 
His  face  was  alight  with  the  joy  of  an  idea.  Al- 
ready Hobson,  upon  whom  the  germ  of  that  idea  had 
dawned,  began  to  be  infected  with  his  enthusiasm. 

"  It's  a  gorgeous  stunt,"  he  acknowledged,  as  he 
followed  his  companion  into  a  taxicab.  "  If  we  bring 
it  off,  it's  going  to  knock  the  movies  silly." 

Katharine,  weary  at  last  of  waving  her  hand  to 
the  indistinct  blur  of  faces  upon  the  dock,  picked 
up  the  great  clusters  of  roses  which  late  arrivals  had 
thrust  into  her  arms  at  the  last  moment,  and  de- 
scended to  her  stateroom  upon  the  saloon  deck.  She 
spent  only  a  few  minutes  looking  at  the  arrange- 
ment of  her  things,  and  then  knocked  at  the  door 
of  the  stateroom  exactly  opposite.  A  thick -browed, 
heavy-looking  man,  sombrely  and  professionally 
dressed,  opened  the  door. 

"Are  you  wanting  me,  Doctor  Gant.'' "  she 
asked. 

The  doctor  shook  his  head. 

"  The  patient  is  asleep,"  he  announced  in  a  whis- 
per. 

Katharine  stepped  inside  and  stood  looking  down 
upon  the  pale,  almost  ghastly  face  of  the  man 
stretched  at  full  length  upon  the  bed. 

"  Why,  I  remember  him  perfectly,"  she  exclaimed. 
*'  He  was   in  Number  Three  Ward  for   some  time. 


38       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Surely  he  was  a  clerk  at  one  of  the  drygoods  stores 
down-town?  " 

The  doctor  nodded. 

"  Very  likely." 

"  I  remember  the  case,"  Katharine  continued, — 
"  appendicitis,  followed  by  pneumonia,  and  compli- 
cated by  angina  pectoris." 

"  You  have  it  precisely." 

Katharine's  eyes  were  full  of  perplexity. 

"  But  the  man  is  in  very  poor  circumstances,"  she 
remarked.  "  How  on  earth  can  he  afford  a  trip 
like  this.'^  He  was  on  the  free  list  at  the  hos- 
pital." 

The  doctor  frowned. 

"  That  is  not  my  business,"  he  said.  "  My  fees 
are  paid,  and  the  steamer  tickets  appear  to  be  in 
order.     He  probably  has  wealthy  friends." 

Katharine  looked  down  once  more  at  the  sleeping 
man.  His  face  was  insignificant,  his  expression  peev- 
ish, his  features  without  the  animation  of  any  high 
purpose. 

"  I  really  cannot  understand,"  she  murmured, 
"  how  he  became  a  friend  —  a  friend  — " 

"  A  friend  of  whom?  "  the  doctor  enquired. 

Katharine  reflected  and  shook  her  head. 

"  Perhaps  I  was  indiscreet,"  she  confessed.  "  I 
dare  say  you  know  as  much  about  him  as  I  do.  At 
what  time  would  you  like  me  to  come  and  help  you 
change  the  bandages  ?  " 

"  I  shall  change  them  alone,"  the  doctor  replied. 
"  I  prefer  to." 

Katharine  glanced  up  in  surprise. 

*'  Surely   you   are   not   in   earnest  ?  "    she    asked. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       39 

"What  else  am  I  here  for?  I  suppose  you  realise 
that  I  am  fully  qualified?  " 

The  doctor  unbent  a  little. 

"  I  am  perfectly  well  aware  of  that,  Miss  Bever- 
ley,*' he  said,  "  and  it  may  be  that  there  are  times 
when  I  shall  be  glad  of  your  help,  and  in  any  case," 
he  went  on,  "  I  shall  have  to  ask  you  to  take  a  share 
in  the  night  watching.  But  the  surgical  part  of  the 
case  has  been  a  great  responsibility,  and  I  couldn't 
afford  to  have  the  slightest  thing  in  the  world  happen 
to  one  of  my  bandages." 

Katharine  nodded. 

"  You  are  thinking  of  Nurse  Lynn,"  she  observed. 
"  But  really  I  am  very  careful." 

"  I  am  sure  of  it,"  the  doctor  acknowledged,  "  but 
so  long  as  I  am  here,  with  nothing  else  to  do  and  a 
very  heavy  fee  if  by  any  chance  I  bring  my  man 
through,  I  may  just  as  well  see  to  these  things  my- 
self. At  any  moment  I  might  need  your  help,  and 
I  am  very  happy.  Miss  Beverley,  to  think  that  I 
shall  have  some  one  like  you  to  fall  back  upon.  My 
great  hope,"  he  went  on,  "  is  that  we  may  get  him 
across  without  a  touch  of  the  angina." 

"  Will  he  ever  get  well?  "  she  asked. 

The  doctor  shook  his  head  doubtfully. 

"  One  can  never  tell,"  he  said.  "  It  is  just  one  of 
these  cases  which  are  very  close  to  the  borderland. 
With  luck  he  may  pull  through,  may  even  become  a 
fairly  strong  man  again,  but  he  doesn't  look  as 
though  he  had  much  of  a  physique.  Sometime  or 
other  the  day  will  come  when  life  or  death  for  him 
will  depend  entirely  upon  his  will." 

She  nodded  and  moved  away. 


40       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  My  stateroom  is  just  opposite,  if  you  want  me 
at  any  time,  doctor,"  she  said. 

He  bowed  and  closed  the  door  after  her.  Kath- 
arine made  her  way  into  her  cabin,  sat  on  her  steamer 
trunk  and  looked  around  a  little  helplessly.  The 
confusion  of  thought  in  which  she  had  come  on  board 
was  only  increased  by  this  introduction  to  doctor  and 
patient.  A  presentiment  of  strange  and  imminent 
happenings  kept  her  seated  there  long  after  the  dress- 
ing bugle  had  sounded. 

The  City  of  Boston  was  four  hours  out  of  har- 
bour, with  her  course  set  direct  for  Liverpool.  The 
passengers,  of  whom  there  were  only  a  very  moderate 
number,  had  taken  possession  of  their  staterooms, 
examined  their  lifebelts,  eaten  their  first  meal,  and 
were  now,  at  eight  o'clock  on  a  fine  June  evenings 
mostly  strolling  about  the  deck  or  reclining  in 
steamer  chairs.  There  was  none  of  the  old-time  feel- 
ing that  a  six-days'  holiday  was  before  them,  a  six- 
days'  freedom  from  all  anxiety  and  care.  Even  in 
these  first  few  hours  of  their  enterprise  a  certain 
strain  of  suppressed  excitement  was  almost  univer- 
sally noticeable.  There  was  no  escaping  from  grim 
facts,  and  the  facts  were  brought  home  to  them  all 
the  time  by  those  two  businesslike  destroyers  flying 
the  Stars  and  Stripes,  and  whose  decks  were  swept 
continually  by  a  deluge  of  green  salt  water. 
Amongst  the  few  people  who  conversed  there  was 
but  one  subject  of  conversation,  a  subject  which 
every  one  affected  to  treat  lightly,  and  yet  which 
no  one  managed  to  discuss  without  signs  of  anxiety. 

"  This  thing  will  get  on  all  our  nerves  before  we 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       41 

are  over,"  Brand,  a  breezy  newspaper  man  from  the 
West,  observed.  "  What  with  boat  drill  three  times 
a  day,  and  lifebelt  parade  going  on  all  the  time  on 
the  deck,  one  doesn't  get  a  chance  to  forget  that 
we  are  liable  to  get  a  torpedo  in  our  side  at  any 
moment." 

"  Oh,  these  little  gnats  of  Uncle  Sam's  will  look 
after  us ! "  a  more  cheerful  confrere  observed. 
*'  Come  into  the  smoking  room  and  I'll  buy  you  a 
drink." 

A  good  deal  of  courage  seemed  to  be  sought  in  that 
direction,  and  presently,  although  the  afterglow  of 
the  sunset  was  still  brilliant,  the  decks  were  almost 
deserted.  On  the  starboard  side,  only  a  man  and  a 
woman  remained,  and  gradually,  as  though  with  a 
certain  unwillingness,  they  drifted  closer  together. 
The  woman,  who  wore  a  black  and  white  check  coat 
over  her  blue  serge  steamer  dress,  and  a  small  black 
hat  from  which  she  had  pushed  back  the  veil,  was 
leaning  over  the  side  of  the  steamer,  her  head  sup- 
ported by  her  hand,  looking  steadily  into  the  mass 
of  red  and  orange  clouds.  The  man,  who  was  smok- 
ing a  cigar,  with  both  hands  in  his  ulster  pockets, 
seemed  as  though  he  would  have  passed  her,  but 
without  turning  her  head  she  held  out  her  hand  and 
beckoned  him  to  her  side. 

"  I  was  beginning  to  wonder  whether  you  were 
an  absentee,"  Katharine  remarked. 

*'  I  have  been  making  friends  with  the  captain," 
Jocelyn  Thew  replied. 

"  Please  arrange  my  chair,"  she  begged.  "  I 
should  like  to  sit  down." 

He  did  as  he  was  asked,  arranging  her  rugs  with 


42       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

the  care  of  an  old  traveler.  All  his  movements  were 
very  deliberate,  even  the  searching  way  in  which  his 
eyes  swept  the  long  row  of  empty  chairs  on  either 
side  of  them,  and  the  care  with  which  he  fastened  two 
open  portholes  above  their  heads.  Finally  he  ac- 
cepted her  invitation  and  sat  by  her  side. 

"  I  have  seen  you  once  before,"  she  observed,  *'  just 
before  we  started." 

"  Yes?  "  he  murmured. 

"  You  were  standing  on  the  upper  deck,"  she  con- 
tinued, "  a  little  away  from  the  others.  You  had 
your  glasses  glued  to  your  eyes  and  you  watched  the 
dock.  You  had  the  air  of  one  looking  for  a  late 
arrival.  Do  you  know  of  any  one  who  has  missed 
the  boat?" 

"  I  think  so." 

"A  friend?" 

"  No,  an  enemy,"  he  answered  equably. 

She  turned  her  head  a  little.  It  was  obvious  that 
he  was  speaking  the  truth. 

"  So  you  have  enemies?  " 

*'  A  great  many,"  he  acknowledged,  "  one  in  par- 
ticular just  now.  Perhaps,"  he  went  on,  "I  should 
say  an  opponent." 

"  If  that  is  so,"  she  remarked,  after  a  moment's 
pause,  "  you  should  be  glad  that  he  missed  the  boat." 

Jocclyn  Thew  smiled. 

"  I  am,"  he  admitted.  "  It  was  part  of  my  plan 
that  he  should  miss  it." 

She  moved  uneasily  in  her  chair. 

"So  you  haven't  finished  with  adventures  yet?" 

"Not  just  yet." 

There  was  a  brief  silence.     Then  she  turned  her 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       43 

head  a  little,   leaning  it   still  on   the   back   of  the 
chair  but  watching  him  as  she  spoke. 

"  I  have  seen  my  patient,"  she  told  him.  "  I  have 
also  had  some  conversation  with  the  doctor." 

"Well?" 

"  I  am  beginning  to  think,"  she  continued,  "  that 
you  must  be  a  philanthropist." 

"Why?" 

"  You  hinted,"  she  went  on,  "  that  your  friend 
was  in  poor  circumstances.  You  did  not  tell  me, 
though,  that  you  were  paying  the  whole  expenses  of 
this  trip,  just  so  that  the  man  should  see  his  home 
and  his  family  before  he  died." 

"  I  told  you  that  the  care  of  him  was  a  charge 
upon  me,"  Jocelyn  Thew  reminded  her.  "  That 
amounts  to  the  same  thing,  doesn't  it?  I  was  clever 
enough,  anyhow,  to  get  a  good  nurse  at  a  small 
fee." 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sure,"  she  replied,  "  that  I  shall 
not  charge  you  something  outrageous.  You  are 
probably  a  millionaire." 

"  Whatever  you  charge  me,"  he  promised,  "  I 
shall  try  to  pay." 

The  two  journalists,  refreshed  and  encouraged  by 
their  libation,  strolled  past  arm  in  arm. 

"  Queer  sort  of  voyage,  this,  for  a  man  on  the 
point  of  death,"  the  Westerner  observed.  "  They 
brought  a  chap  on  here,  an  hour  before  we  sailed,  in 
an  ambulance,  with  a  doctor  and  a  hospital  nurse. 
Had  to  be  carried  every  foot  of  the  way." 

"  What's  wrong  with  him?  "  the  other  enquired. 

"  He  was  only  operated  upon  for  appendicitis  a 
fortnight  ago,  and  they  say  that  he  has  angina  pec- 


44       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

toris  amongst  other  complications.  They  brought 
him  straight  from  the  hospital.  Seems  he's  crazy 
to  get  back  to  England  to  die." 

The  two  men  passed  out  of  hearing.  Jocelyn 
flicked  the  ash  from  the  cigarette  which  he  had 
lighted. 

"  Sounds  a  queer  sort  of  story,  the  way  they  tell 
it,"  he  observed,  glancing  at  his  companion. 

"  Oh,  I  don't  know,"  she  replied.  "  Men  have 
done  this  sort  of  thing  before  —  but  it  isn't  often," 
she  went  on,  "  that  a  man  has  done  it  for  the  sake 
of  another  man." 

He  smiled. 

"  You  have  the  old-fashioned  idea  of  man's  devo- 
tion to  woman.  Can't  you  believe  that  there  may 
be  ties  between  two  men  stronger  even  than  between 
a  man  and  the  woman  he  loves?  " 

"  I  can  believe  that,"  she  assented,  "  but  the  men 
must  have  something  in  common.  I  should  find  it 
hard  to  believe,  for  instance,  that  they  existed  be- 
tween you  and  the  man  downstairs." 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders  very  slightly. 

"  You  forget,"  he  observed,  "  that  a  man  does  not 
look  at  his  best  after  such  an  illness  as  Phillips  has 
had.  You  find  him,  perhaps,  a  little  insignificant. 
You  are  probably  aware  of  his  vocation  and  station 
in  life." 

"  I  am." 

"  And  these  things,"  he  went  on,  "  make  it  diffi- 
cult for  you  to  believe  that  there  is  any  great  tie 
between  us  two.  Yet  it  is  the  exception  which  proves 
the  rule,  you  know.  I  will  not  say  that  your  patient 
has  ever  saved  my  life  or  performed  any  immortal 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       45 

action,  jet  believe  me  he  has  courage  and  a  grit  you 
would  scarcely  believe  in,  and  I  am  speaking  seri- 
ously when  I  tell  you  that  not  only  I  but  others  are 
under  deep  obligations  to  him." 

He  rose  to  his  feet  with  the  air  of  one  who  has 
closed  the  subject.  Katharine  also  threw  off  her 
rugs. 

"You  are  going  to  walk?"  she  asked.  "Please 
take  me  with  you.  I  don't  know  why,  but  I  feel 
restless  this  evening." 

They  paced  side  by  side  up  and  down  the  deck, 
pausing  now  and  then  to  watch  the  destroyers  and 
indulging  in  a  very  spasmodic  conversation.  At 
their  fourth  promenade,  as  they  reached  the  stem 
extremity  of  their  deck,  the  woman  paused,  and,, 
holding  to  the  railing  with  one  hand,  looked  steadily 
back  towards  New  York.  The  colour  was  fading 
slowly  from  the  sky  now,  but  it  was  still  marvellously 
clear. 

"  Are  you  homesick  for  what  lies  beneath  those 
clouds?  "  he  enquired  lightly. 

She  took  no  immediate  account  of  his  words.  Her 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  one  spot  in  that  distant  curtain 
of  sky.      Suddenly  she  pointed  with  her  finger. 

"  What's  that.?'"  she  asked.  "  No,  the  mast's  dip- 
ping now  —  you  can't  see.     There  —  the  other  side." 

He  followed  her  outstretched  finger,  and  slowly 
his  fine  black  eyebrows  grew  closer  and  closer  to- 
gether. Far  away,  at  a  certain  spot  in  the  clear 
evening  sky,  was  a  little  speck  of  black,  hidden  every 
now  and  then  by  the  mast  of  the  ship  as  she  rolled, 
but  distinctly  there  all  the  time,  a  little  smudge  in 
an  amber  setting,  too  small  for  a  cloud,  yet  a  visible 


46       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

and  tangible  object.  Katharine  felt  her  companion's 
arm  tighten  upon  hers,  and  she  saw  his  face  grow 
like  a  piece  of  marble. 

"  It's  a  seaplane,"  he  muttered,  "  coming  from  the 
New  Jersey  coast." 

Through  that  mysterious  agency  by  means  of 
which  news  travels  on  board  ship  as  though  super- 
naturally  conveyed,  the  deck  was  crowded  in  a  very 
few  moments  by  practically  every  passenger  and  most 
of  the  officers.  Every  form  of  telescope  and  field- 
glass  was  directed  towards  the  now  clearly  visible 
seaplane.     Speculations  were  everywhere  to  be  heard. 

"  Come  to  warn  us  of  a  submarine,"  was  the  first 
suggestion. 

"  They'd  use  the  wireless,"  was  the  prompt  re- 
minder. 

"  But  seaplanes  can  spot  the  submarines  under  the 
sea,"  one  of  the  journalists  reminded  the  bystand- 
ers.    "  They're  a  better  escort  than  any  destroyer." 

"  She  can't  come  all  the  way  across  the  Atlantic, 
though,"  Brand  observed. 

"  It's  some  new  device  of  Uncle  Sam's  they  are 
testing,  perhaps,"  his  friend  suggested.  "  Gee ! 
You  can  hear  her  now  quite  plainly.  There  are  two 
of  them  in  the  car  —  a  pilot  and  an  observer.  Won- 
der what  the  captain  thinks  about  it." 

The  captain  on  the  bridge  was  talking  to  his  chief 
officer.  Fragments  of  their  conversation  were  ap- 
parently overheard,  for  it  was  soon  rumoured  around 
that  the  captain  had  expressed  his  opinion  that  this 
was  simply  part  of  some  manoeuvres  they  were 
carrying  out  from  the  New  Jersey  Aviation  Station. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       47 

Joceljn  Tliew  watched  the  blue  fire  about  the  mast. 

"  I  wonder  whether  that's  she  talking  to  us,"  he 
obsen'ed.  "  One  would  have  to  be  pretty  nippy  with 
one's  fingers  to  work  aboard  on  one  of  those  small 
things." 

"  Do  you  suppose  she  is  bringing  us  a  message?  " 
Katharine  asked. 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  They  could  do  that  by  wireless  from  the  s'hore," 
he  replied.     "  Hullo,  we're  slowing  down  !  " 

The  little  crowd  was  now  bubbling  over  with  ex- 
citement. The  speed  of  the  steamer  had,  without 
a  doubt,  been  slackened,  and  a  boat  was  being  low- 
ered. Brand  and  his  companion,  immensely  happy, 
were  already  dotting  down  their  notes  for  the  wire- 
less. The  seaplane  was  gently  skimming  the  water 
almost  alongside,  and  barely  fifty  yards  away.  The 
pilot  and  his  companion  were  clearly  visible.  The 
passengers  lined  the  whole  length  of  the  steamer, 
leaning  over  to  watch  the  denouement  of  this  strange 
scene. 

"  It's  a  newspaper  scoop,"  one  man  suggested. 

The  idea  was  not  favourably  entertained. 

"  No  newspaper  would  be  allowed  to  make  use 
of  a  Government  seaplane,"  Brand  pointed  out. 
"  Apart  from  that,  they  wouldn't  dare  to  stop  a 
steamer  out  here." 

"  There's  the  boat ! "  some  one  else  exclaimed, 
pointing  to  one  of  the  ship's  lifeboats  which  had  shot 
out  towards  the  plane.  "  She  must  be  going  to  pick 
one  of  the  men  up  !  " 

The  steamer  was  merely  drifting  now,  and  its 
strange  visitor  had  alighted  upon  the  water,  rush- 


48       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

ing  along  a  little  way  in  front  and  leaving  two  long, 
milky  paths  of  white  foam  behind.  Both  the  pilot 
and  the  passenger  were  drenched  by  every  wave. 
They  watched  the  latter  as  he  was  taken  off,  and 
their  eyes  followed  the  return  of  the  lifeboat.  Al- 
most immediately  afterwards  the  plane,  increasing 
its  speed,  rushed  across  the  surface  of  the  water  and 
rose  again. 

"  Prettiest  sight  I  ever  saw  in  my  life,"  Brand 
declared  enthusiastically. 

"  We  live  in  wonderful  times,"  his  friend  agreed, 
looking  longingly  at  the  wireless  office.  "  I  guess 
we  must  get  a  look  at  this  chap,  anyway,"  he  added. 
"  He's  the  first  man  who  has  overtaken  an  American 
liner  so  far  from  land  like  this  before." 

The  man  who  clambered  a  few  minutes  later  up 
the  ladder  of  the  steamer  had  not  the  appearance 
-of  one  who  has  performed  a  heroic  action.  His 
•clothes  had  shrunk  upon  his  body,  and  the  sea  water 
was  oozing  from  him  in  all  directions.  His  face 
was  blue  with  cold  and  almost  unrecognisable.  Nev- 
ertheless, Jocelyn  Thew,  who  was  one  of  the  most 
eager  of  the  sightseers,  attained  a  certain  measure  of 
^conviction  as  he  shut  up  his  glasses  with  a  snap  and 
turned  to  his  companion. 

"  An  Englishman,"  he  observed. 

"  Do  you  know  him?  "  she  asked  curiously. 

"  I  can't  go  so  far  as  that,"  he  admitted,  "  but  — " 

"  But  he  was  the  man  for  whom  you  were  looking 
before  the  steamer  started,"  she  declared  confidently. 

"  Seems  a  little  rough  luck  to  be  caught  up  like  this 
out  in  the  ocean,"  he  grumbled.  "  I  don't  know  that 
the  man's  likely  to  do  me  any  particular  harm,"  he 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       49 

added,  "  but  I'd  just  as  soon  he  wasn't  on  board." 

Meanwhile,  the  captain  had  hurried  his  belated 
passenger  into  his  room,  and  the  ship  saw  no  more 
of  him  that  night.  By  degrees  the  excitement  sim- 
mered down.  Jocelyn  escorted  his  companion  to  the 
gangway  and  bade  her  good  night. 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sure,"  she  protested,  "  that  I  am 
ready  to  go  down  yet." 

"  You  must  show  a  little  interest  in  your  patient,'* 
he  insisted. 

"  But  the  doctor  has  already  as  good  as  told  me 
to  keep  away." 

"  Gant  is  a  peculiar  fellow,"  he  told  her.  "  By 
this  time  he  has  probably  changed  his  mind  and  needs 
your  help.  Besides,  I  am  anxious  to  hear  what  they 
say  in  the  smoking  room  concerning  this  extraordi- 
nary visitor." 

She  looked  around.     They  were  absolutely  alone. 

"  Who  is  he,"  she  asked,  "  and  what  does  his  com- 
ing mean  to  you  ?  " 

"  His  name  is  Crawshay,"  Jocelyn  replied.  "  He 
is  an  ex-Scotland  Yard  man  who  came  over  here  to 
work  for  the  English  Secret  Service." 

"  What  does  he  want  here.''  "  she  whispered,  a  little 
hoarsely. 

Jocelyn  raised  his  cap  as  he  turned  away. 

"  Me,"  he  answered.  "  He'll  probably  be  disap- 
pointed, though." 


CHAPTER  V 

Crawshay  found  himself  a  popular  hero  when  at 
a  few  minutes  before  eleven  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing he  made  his  appearance  on  deck.  With  little 
regard  to  the  weather,  which  was  fine  and  warm,  he 
was  clad  in  a  thick  grey  suit  and  a  voluminous  over- 
coat. The  fact  that  his  borrowed  hat  was  several 
sizes  too  large  for  him  detracted  a  little  from  the 
dignity  of  his  appearance,  a  misfortune  for  which 
he  endeavoured  to  atone  by  a  distinct  aloofness  of 
manner.  The  newspaper  men,  however,  were  not  to 
be  denied. 

"  Say,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  Brand  began,  stopping  him 
'as  soon  as  he  had  emerged  from  the  companionway, 
"  I'd  like  to  shake  hands  with  you.  My  name's 
Brand.     I'm  a  newspaper  man." 

Crawshay  shook  hands,  although  he  showed  no 
particular  enthusiasm  about  the  proceeding. 

"  And  I  am  Clark,  of  the  Minneapolis  liccord," 
the  small,  dark  man,  who  was  generally  by  Brand's 
side,  added.     "  Put  it  there,  sir." 

Crawshay  put  it  there  with  an  incipient  reluctance 
which  the  two  men  were  not  slow  to  note. 

"  Kind  of  shock  to  you  yesterday,  no  doubt," 
Brand  began.  "  It  was  a  fine,  plucky  thing  to  do, 
sir.     Ever  flown  before?" 

"  Never,"  Crawshay  confessed.  "  The  sensation 
was  —  er  —  entirely  new  to  me.  I  found  the  descent 
upon  the  water  most  uncomfortable." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       51 

"  Soaked  jour  shore  clothes,  eh? "  Brand  ob- 
served. 

"  I  was  not  attired  for  the  proceeding,"  Crawshay 
admitted.  "  I  was,  in  fact,  very  inappropriately 
dressed.  I  was  wearing  a  thin  flannel  suit,  which  was 
completely  ruined,  and  I  do  not  think  that  I  shall 
ever  be  warm  again." 

Mr.  Brand  glanced  longingly  at  his  wrist  watch 
and  sighed. 

"  I  make  it  a  rule,  sir,"  he  said,  "  never  to  drink 
before  twelve  o'clock,  but  there  is  no  rule  without  an 
exception.  If  you  think  that  a  double  jigger  of  gin, 
with  a  little  lemon  and  — " 

"  Stop !  "  Crawshay  begged.  "  I  have  no  sym- 
pathy with  the  weird  compounds  produced  by  your 
bartenders.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  take  nothing  at 
all  except  with  my  meals.  I  am  going  to  sit  in  this 
sunshine  and  try  and  recover  my  normal  tempera- 
ture." 

"  There  are  a  few  of  the  boys  on  board,"  Brand 
continued  insinuatingly,  "who  would  like  to  join  in 
our  little  chat,  if  you  wouldn't  mind  their  stepping 
round." 

"  I  have  no  desire  for  a  chat  with  any  one,"  Craw- 
shay objected.  "  I  came  up  on  deck  to  rest.  Kindly 
ask  me  what  you  want  to  know  and  leave  me  alone 
for  a  time." 

"  Then  what  in  thunder  sent  you  here  after  an 
American  liner  on  a  seaplane?  "  Brand  demanded. 
"  That's  about  the  long  and  short  of  what  we're 
aching  to  know,  I  think." 

"  You've  hit  it,  Ned,  as  usual,"  Mr.  Clark,  of  the 
Minneapolis  Record^  acquiesced. 


52       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Crawshay  drew  his  rug  about  him  a  little  peevishly. 

"  My  name,"  he  said,  "  is  Charles  Reginald  Craw- 
shay." 

"  We  got  that  from  the  captain,"  Brand  replied. 
"  Very  nice  name,  too." 

"  I  have  been  attached,"  Crawshay  went  on,  "  to 
the  British  Embassy  at  Washington." 

"  You  don't  say !  "  Brand  murmured. 

"  I  am  returning  home,"  Crawshay  continued,  "  be- 
cause I  intend  to  join  the  British  Army.  I  was  un- 
fortunate enough  to  miss  the  boat,  and  being  in 
company  with  a  person  of  authority  and  influence, 
he  suggested,  partly  in  joke,  that  I  should  try  to 
persuade  one  of  the  pilots  of  your  new  seaplanes 
at  Jersey  to  bring  me  out.  He  further  bet  me  five 
hundred  dollars  that  I  would  not  attempt  the  flight. 
I  am  one  of  those  sort  of  people,"  Crawshay  con- 
fessed meditatively,  "  who  rise  to  a  bet  as  to  no  other 
thing  in  life.  I  suppose  it  comes  from  our  inherited 
sporting  instincts.  I  accepted  the  bet  and  here  I 
am." 

"  In  time  to  save  the  British  Army,  eh.''  "  Brand 
observed. 

"  In  time  to  take  my  rightful  place  amongst  the 
defenders  of  my  country,"  was  the  dignified  rebuke. 
"  Incidentally,  I  have  won  a  hundred  pounds." 

'-Would  you  do  it  again  for  the  same  money.'*" 
Clark  asked  guilefully. 

The  Englishman  coughed. 

"  I  must  confess,"  he  said,  "  that  it  is  not  an  ex- 
perience I  am  anxious  to  repeat." 

Brand  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Well,  sir,"  he  concluded,  "  I  off'er  you  my  con- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       53 

gratulations  on  your  trip.  We  shall  just  dot  a  few 
words  together  concerning  it  for  the  New  York  news- 
papers.    Anything  you'd  like  to'add.?  " 

Crawshay  stroked  his  upper  lip. 

"  You  can  say,"  he  pronounced  with  dignity,  "  that 
I  found  the  trip  most  enjoyable.  And  by-the-by, 
you  had  better  put  a  word  in  about  the  skill  of  the 
pilot  —  Lieutenant  T.  Johnson,  I  beheve  his  name 
was.  I  have  no  experience  in  such  matters,  and  I 
found  him  once  or  twice  a  little  unsympathetic  when 
I  complained  of  bumps,  but  the  young  man  did  his 
best    -  of  that  I  am  convinced." 

Mr,  Brand's  tongue  slowly  crept  round  the  out- 
side or  his  mouth.  He  met  the  eye  of  his  friend  Mr. 
Clark  and  indulged  in  a  wink.  He  had  the  air  of 
a  rnan  who  felt  relieved  by  the  operation. 

"  W^'e  are  very  much  obliged  to  you,  Mr.  Craw- 
shay," he  declared.  "  You  have  done  something  to 
brighten  this  trip,  anyway." 

"  A  little  later,"  Crawshay  announced,  "  either 
just  before  your  luncheon  or  dinner  hour,  if  you  and 
3'our  friends  would  meet  me  in  the  smoking  room, 
I  should  be  delighted  to  remember  in  the  customary 
fashion  that  I  have  won  a  rather  considerable  wa- 
ger." 

"  Come,  that's  bulh',"  Brand  declared,  with  a 
little  real  feeling  in  his  tone.  "  I  tell  you,  Clark," 
he  added,  as  they  made  their  way  along  the  deck 
to  the  writing  room,  "  you've  got  to  prick  these 
damned  Britishers  pretty  hard,  but  they've  gener- 
ally got  a  bit  of  the  right  feeling  somewhere  tucked 
away.  He'll  have  a  swollen  head  for  the  rest  of  this 
voyage,  though." 


54       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Cpawshay  watched  the  two  men  disappear,  out  of 
the  corner  of  his  eye.  Then  he  rose  to  his  feet  and 
commenced  a  little  promenade  about  the  sunny  por- 
tion of  the  deck.  After  two  or  three  turns  he  found 
himself  face  to  face  with  Jocelyn  Thew,  who  had 
just  issued  from  the  companionway. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Late  Passenger !  "  the  latter 
exclaimed. 

Crawshay  paused  and  looked  him  up  and  down. 

"  Do  I  know  you,  sir.?  "  he  asked. 

"  I  am  not  so  sure  tl^at  you  do,'*  Jocelyn  replied, 
*'  but  after  yesterday  the  whole  world  knows  Mr. 
Reginald  Crawshay." 

"  Very  kind  of  you,  I  am  sure,"  Crawshay  mur- 
mured. "  What  I  did  really  wasn't  worth  making 
a  fuss  about." 

"  You  had  an  uncomfortable  ride,  I  fear.''  "  Joce- 
lyn continued. 

"  I  was  most  unsuitably  attired,"  Crawshay  has- 
tened to  explain.  "  If,  instead  of  asking  me  very 
absurd  questions  at  the  aerodtome,  they  had  pro- 
vided me  with  some  garments  calculated  to  exclude 
the  salt  water,  I  should  be  able  to  look  back  upon 
the  trip  with-  more  pleasurable  feelings." 

"Pity  you  had  to  make  it,  wasn't  it.''"  Jocelyn 
observed,  falling  into  step  with  him. 

"  I  scarcely  follow  you,  Mr. —  Ought  I  to  know 
your  name.'*     I  have  a  shocking  memory." 

"  My  name  is  Jocdyn  Thew." 

*'  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,"  Crawshay  concluded. 

*'  I  mean  that  it  was  a  pity  you  missed  the  boat, 
you  and  Hobson,  wasn't  it?  What  was  the  weather 
like  in  Chicago.''  " 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       55 

"  Hot,"  Crawshay  replied.  "  I  was  hotter  there 
than  I  ever  expect  to  be  again  in  this  world." 

"A  long,  tiring  journey,  too,  from  Halifax." 

"  Not  only  that,  sir,"  Crawshay  agreed,  "  but  a 
dirty  journey.  I  like  to  travel  with  the  windows 
down  —  cold  water  and  fresh  air,  you  know,  for  us 
English  people  —  but  the  soft  coal  you  burn  in  your 
engines  is  the  most  appalling  uncleanly  stufp  I  have 
ever  met." 

"  Still,  you  got  here,"  Jocelyn  reminded  him. 

"  I  got  here,"  Crawshay  agreed  with  an  air  of 
satisfaction. 

"  And  you  can  take  a  bath  three  times  a  day,  if 
you  feel  like  it,  on  board,"  Jocehm  continued.  "  I'm 
afraid  you  won't  find  much  else  to  do." 

"  One  can  never  tell,"  Crawshay  sighed.  "  I  have 
started  on  ocean  trips  sometimes  which  promised 
absolutely  nothing  in  the  way  of  entertainment,  and 
I  have  discovered  myself,  before  the  end  of  the 
journey,  thoroughly  interested  and  amused." 

"  Nothing  like  looking  on  the  bright  side  of 
things,"  Jocelyn  observed. 

Crawshay  turned  his  head  and  contemplated  his 
companion  for  a  few  moments.  Jocelyn  Thew,  not- 
withstanding his  fine,  slim  figure,  his  well-cut  clothes 
and  lean,  handsome  face,  carried  always  with  him 
some  nameless,  unanalysable  air  of  the  man  who  has 
played  the  explorer,  who  has  peered  into  strange 
places,  who  has  handled  the  reins  which  guide  the 
white  horse  of  life  as  well  as  the  black  horse  of 
death. 

"  I  am  quite  sure,"  he  said,  in  a  tone  of  kindly 
approval,  "  that  I  shall  find  you  a  most  interesting 


36       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

companion  on  this  trip.  You  and  I  must  have  a 
little  further  conversation  together.  I  have  won  a 
considerable  sum  of  money,  I  may  say,  by  my  —  er 
—  exploit,  and  I  have  invited  some  of  these  news- 
paper fellows  to  take  a  drink  with  me  before  lunch- 
eon in  the  smoking  room.     I  hope  you  will  join  us?  " 

"  I  shall  be  delighted,"  Jocelyn  accepted.  "  A 
drink  with  a  friend,  and  a  little  mutual  toast,  is  al- 
ways a  pleasure." 

Crawshay  paused.  They  were  standing  outside 
the  entrance  to  the  captain's  cabin. 

"  I  quite  agree  with  you,"  he  said.  "  Exercise 
your  ingenuity,  Mr.  Jocelyij  Thew,  and  think  out 
a  toast  that  we  can  both  drink  sincerely.  You  will 
excuse  me.^  I  am  going  in  to  talk  to  the  captain 
for  a  few  minutes.  There  are  a  few  matters  con- 
cerning my  personal  comfort  which  need  his  atten- 
tion. I  find  the  purser,"  he  added,  dropping  his 
voice,  **  an  excellent  fellow,  no  doubt,  but  just  a 
trifle  unsympathetic,  eh.''  " 

"  I  have  no  doubt  you  are  right,"  Jocelyn  agreed. 
"  We  will  meet  again,  then,  just  before  one  o'clock.*' 


CHAPTER  VI 

Crawshay  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  captain's 
room,  received  a  stentorian  invitation  to  enter,  and 
sank  a  little  plaintively  into  a  vacant  easy-chair. 
The  purser,  who  had  been  in  close  confabulation  with 
his  chief,  hastily  took  his  leave. 

"  Good  morning,  sir,"  the  visitor  said  languidly. 

"  Good  morning,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  the  captain  re- 
plied. "  Feeling  a  little  stronger  this  morning,  I 
hope.?^" 

Crawshay  sighed. 

"  The  memory  of  that  experience,"  he  began,  set- 
tling down  in  his  chair, — 

*'  Well,  well,  you  ought  to  have  got  over  that  by 
this  time,"  the  captain  interrupted.  "  What  can  I 
do  for  you,  Mr.  Crawshay?  I  have  been  yarning 
with  the  purser  a  little  longer  than  usual,  this  morn- 
ing, and  I  have  some  rounds  to  do." 

"  I  must  not  stand  in  the  way  of  your  daily  avoca- 
tion," the  newcomer  said  gloomily.  "  I  really 
dropped  in  chiefly  to  see  if  by  any  chance  you  had 
had  a  wireless  message  about  me." 

"  Not  a  word." 

"  No  message,  eh  ?  Now,  do  you  know,  that 
seems  to  me  exceedingly  strange,"  Crawshay  rumi- 
nated. 

"  I  don't  see  why  it  should,"  was  the  somewhat 
brusque  reply.     "  I  have  no  doubt  that  the  New  York 


58       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

papers  have  some  wonderful  headlines  — '  How  an 
Englishman  catches  the  steamer ! '  or  '  An  English 
diplomatist,  eager  to  fight ' —  and  all  that  sort  of 
thing.  But  apart  from  the  spectacular  side  of  it, 
I  don't  suppose  thej  consider  your  adventure  of  na- 
tional interest." 

"  On  the  contrary,  it  is  the  development  of  a  new 
era,"  Crawshay  replied,  with  dignity.  "  Just  con- 
sider what  actually  happened.  I  miss  the  steamer, 
owing  to  the  breakdown  of  the  Chicago  Limited  and 
a  subsequent  automobile  accident.  I  arrive  at  the 
dock  whilst  you  are  in  the  shadow  of  the  Statue  of 
Liberty.  What  do  I  do.^  What  no  one  else  has 
ever  done  before !  I  fly  after  you !  Romance  has 
never  pictured  such  a  thing.  I  am  a  pioneer,  Cap- 
tain." 

The  Captain  grinned. 

*'  You've  been  pretty  sorry  for  yourself  ever  since," 
he  observed. 

**  I  must  confess  that  I  made  up  my  mind  to  the 
heroic  deed  in  a  rash  moment,"  Crawshay  acknowl- 
edged. "  I  am  a  person  of  strong  and  unconquer- 
able impulses.  You  see,  that  exceedingly  disagree- 
able American  policeman  who  was  sent  up  to  Halifax 
on  a  fool's  errand  with  me,  and  who  subsequently  led 
me  on  another  to  Chicago,  bet  me  five  hundred  dollars, 
as  we  stood  upon  the  dock,  that  I  couldn't  catch 
that  steamer.  Now  if  there  is  one  thing,"  he  went 
on,  crossing  his  legs,  "  which  excites  my  interest 
more  than  another,  it  is  a  bet." 

"  That  and  your  accent,"  the  captain  said,  smiling, 
"  are  two  of  your  most  prominent  British  traits,  Mr, 
Crawshay." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       59 

The  latter  took  out  his  eyeglass  and  polished  it. 

"  I  have  others,"  he  retorted,  "  but  never  mind- 
I  understood  you  to  say,  I  think,  that  you  have  heard 
nothing  by  wireless  about  me?  " 

"  Not  a  word." 

The  captain  glanced  at  his  clock  and  showed  some 
signs  of  impatience.  His  visitor,  however,  remained 
blandly  imperturbable. 

*'  I  see  that  you  have  only  one  operator  in  the 
wireless  room,"  he  remarked. 

"  How  do  you  know  that?  " 

"  I  happened  to  be  walking  by  last  night,  and  I 
glanced  in." 

"  We  are  short-handed,"  the  captain  explained. 

"  Quite  naturally,"  Crawshay  replied.  "  Now 
with  reference  to  this  young  man,  I  watched  him  com- 
ing down  the  steps  from  his  office  this  morning.  You 
may  be  surprised  to  hear,  Captain,  that  I  found 
him  unprepossessing  —  in  fact  I  might  almost  say 
that  I  took  a  dislike  to  him." 

"  I  am  sure  he  would  be  very  much  disturbed  if 
he  knew  your  opinion,"  was  the  faintly  sarcastic 
reply.  "  He  happens  to  be  a  young  man  with  ex- 
ceptionally good  credentials." 

"  Credentials,"  Crawshay  observed  blandly,  "  in 
which  I  have  no  faith  —  no  faith  whatever." 

The  captain  turned  his  head  suddenly.  There  was 
a  new  expression  in  his  face  as  he  looked  keenly  at 
his  visitor. 

"What  do  you  mean,  Mr.  Crawshay?" 

"  Nothing  much.  I  see  you  have  been  smoking  a 
pipe,  Captain.  You  Mill  forgive  me  if  I  light  one 
of  these  perfectly  damnable  cigarettes  which  are  all 


60       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

I  have  been  able  to  buy  op  board. —  Thank  you. — 
I  talk  better  when  I  smoke.'' 

"  It  seems  to  me  that  you  talk  a  great  deal  of  non- 
sense," the  captain  declared  bluntly. 

"  Intermingled  at  times, '  the  othet  insisted,  *'  with 
a  word  or  two  of  sense.  Novv  i  am  going  to  repeat 
that  I  have  very  little  faith  in  this  wireless  operator 
of  yours.  At  three  o'clock  this  morning  —  I  don't 
wish  to  tie  myself  down.  Captain,  so  I  will  say  in 
the  vicinity  of  that  hour  —  he  received  a  message  — 
a  long  one,  I  should  imagine.  I  put  it  to  you,  sir  — 
was  that  dispatch  for  you?  " 

"  No,"  the  captain  admitted,  "  I  had  no  message 
at  that  hour  or  since." 

"  Very  well,  then,"  Crawshay  continued,  loosening 
a  little  muffler  at  his  throat,  "  I  suppose  you  can  as- 
certain from  the  purser  if  any  message  was  delivered 
to  any  one  of  your  passengers?  " 

"  I  certainly  can,"  the  captain  admitted,  "  but  to 
tell  you  the  truth,  sir,  I  scarcely  see  how  this  con- 
cerns you." 

"  I  am  endeavouring,"  his  visitor  replied,  with  a 
little  wave  of  his  hand,  "  to  justify  my  statement. 
Enquire  of  the  purser,  I  beg  you.  It  will  do  no 
harm." 

The  captain  shrugged  his  shoulders,  touched  the 
bell  and  despatched  his  steward  for  Mr.  Dix,  the 
purser,  who,  happening  to  be  on  the  deck  outside, 
made  an  immediate  appearance. 

"  Mr.  Dix,"  the  captain  asked  him,  "  can  you  tell 
me  if  you  have  received  any  wireless  message  intended 
for  any  one  of  the  passengers  at  or  since  three  o'clock 
this  morning?" 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       6i 

*'  Not  one,  sir." 

Crawshay's  smile  was  beatific  and  triumphant. 
He  relit  his  cigarette  which  had  gone  out,  and, 
crossing  his  legs,  made  himself  a  little  more  com- 
fortable. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  he  said,  "  what  I  should  like 
to  know  is,  what  became  of  that  message  which  made 
very  pretty  illuminations  around  your  conductor, 
or  whatever  you  call  it,  for  at  least  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  this  morning?  " 

"  The  message  may  merely  have  been  an  intercepted 
one,"  the  purser  pointed  out.  "  It  may  not  have 
been  for  us  at  all." 

"  1  had  an  idea,"  Crawshay  persisted,  with  bland 
and  officious  precision,  *'  that  even  intercepted  mes- 
sages, especially  in  time  of  war,  were  referred  to 
some  person  of  authority  on  board.  Apart  from 
that,  however,  the  message  I  refer  to  was  written 
down  and  delivered  to  one  of  your  passengers.  I 
happened  to  see  your  operator  leave  his  office  with 
an  envelope  in  his  hand." 

"  At  thfee  o'clock  in  the  morning?  "  the  captain 
observed  incredulously. 

"  At  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  past  that  time," 
the  other  assented. 

"  And  what  on  earth  were  you  doing  about  on 
deck?" 

"  I  have  strange  habits,"  Crawshay  confessed. 
"  On  board  ship  I  indulge  them.  I  like  to  sleep  when 
I  feel  like  it,  and  to  wander  about  when  I  feel  in- 
clined. After  my  extraordinary,  my  remarkable  ex- 
perience of  yesterday,  I  was  not  disposed  for  slum- 
ber." 


62       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  It  appears  to  me,  sir,"  the  purser  intervened, 
**  that  on  board  this  ship  you  seem  to  do  a  great  deal 
of  walking  about,  considering  you  have  only  been 
with  us  for  a  little  more  than  twelve  hours." 

"  Liver,"  Crawshay  explained  confidentially.  "  I 
suffer  intensely  from  my  liver.  Gentle  and  contin- 
ual exercise  is  my  greatest  help." 

The  captain  turned  towards  his  junior  officer. 

"  Mr.  Dix,"  he  suggested,  "  perhaps  it  will  clear 
this  little  matter  up  if  we  send  for  Robins.  You 
might  just  step  out  yourself  and  bring  him  round." 

Crawshay  extended  an  eager  hand. 

"  I  beg  that  you  will  do  nothing  of  the  sort,"  he 
pleaded. 

"But  why  not.?"  the  captain  demanded.  "You 
have  made  a  definite  charge  against  a  wireless  opera- 
tor on  the  ship.  He  ought  to  be  placed  in  the  posi- 
tion to  be  able  to  refute  it  if  he  can." 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  Crawshay  agreed,  "  that  in 
course  of  time  he  will  be  given  that  opportunity.  At 
present  it  would  be  indiscreet." 

"And  why.?" 

"  Because  there  will  be  other  messages,  and  one 
is  driven  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  be  exceed- 
ingly interesting  to  lay  hands  on  one  of  these  mes- 
sages, no  record  of  which  is  kept,  of  which  the  purser 
is  not  informed,  and  which  are  delivered  secretly 
to—" 

"  Well,  to  whom.?  "  the  captain  demanded. 

"  To  a  passenger  on  board  this  steamer." 

The  captain  shook  his  head.  His  whole  expression 
was  one  of  disapproval. 

"  Nonsense  !  "  he  exclaimed.     "  If  Robins  has  failed 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       63 

in  his  duty,  which  I  still  take  the  liberty  of  doubt- 
ing, I  must  cross-question  him  at  once." 

Crawshay  assumed  the  air  of  a  pained  invalid 
whose  wishes  have  been  thwarted. 

"  You  must  really  oblige  me  by  doing  nothing  of 
the  sort,"  he  begged.  "  I  am  sure  that  my  way  is 
best.  Besides,  you  make  me  feel  like  an  eavesdropper 
—  a  common  informer,  and  that  sort  of  thing,  you 
know." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  cannot  allow  any  question  of 
sentiment  to  stand  between  me  and  the  discipline  of 
my  ship,"  was  the  somewhat  uncompromising  reply. 

Crawshay  sighed,  and  with  languid  fingers  unbut- 
toned his  overcoat  and  coat.  Then,  from  some  mys- 
terious place  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  breast 
pocket,  he  produced  an  envelope  containing  a  single 
half-sheet  of  paper. 

"  Read  that,  sir,  if  you  please,"  he  begged. 

The  captain  accepted  the  envelope  with  some  re- 
luctance, straightened  out  its  contents,  read  the  few 
words  it  contained  several  times,  and  handed  back 
the  missive.  He  stood  for  a  moment  like  a  man  in 
a  dream.  Crawshay  returned  the  envelope  to  his 
pocket  and  rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Well,  I'll  be  getting  along,"  he  observed»_ 
"  We'll  have  another  little  chat,  Captain,  later  on. 
I  must  take  my  matutinal  stroll,  or  I  know  how  I 
shall  feel  about  luncheon  time.  Besides,  there  are 
some  exuberant  persons  on  board  who  are  expecting 
me  to  offer  them  refreshment  about  one  o'clock,  out 
of  my  winnings,  and,  attached  to  your  wonderfxil 
country  as  I  am,  Captain,  I  must  admit  that  cock- 
tails do  not  agree  with  me." 


64       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  One  has  to  get  used  to  them,"  the  captain  mur- 
mured absently. 

"  I  am  most  unfortunate,  too,  in  the  size  of  my 
feet,"  Crawshay  continued  dolefully,  looking  down 
at  them.  "  If  there  is  one  thing  I  thoroughly  dis- 
like, it  is  being  on  board  ship  without  rubber  over- 
s/hoes  —  a  product  of  your  country,  Captain,  which 
I  must  confess  that  I  appreciate  more  than  your 
cocktails.  Good  morning,  sir.  I  hope  I  haven't 
kept  you  from  your  rounds.  Dear  me  !  "  he  added,  in 
a  tone  of  vexation,  as  he  passed  through  the  door, 
"  I  believe  that  I  have  been  sitting  in  a  draught  all 
the  time.     I  feel  quite  shivery." 

He  shambled  down  the  deck.  The  purser  lingered 
behind  with  an  enquiring  expression  in  his  eyes,  but 
his  chief  did  not  take  the  hint. 

"  Dix,"  he  said  solemnly,  as  he  put  on  his  cap 
and  started  out  on  his  rounds,  "  I  was  right.  This 
is  going  to  be  a  very  queer  voyage  indeed !  " 


CHAPTER  VII 

Crawshay  walked  slowly  along  the  deck  until  he 
found  a  completely  sheltered  spot.  Then  he  sum- 
moned the  deck  steward  and  superintended  the  ar- 
rangement of  his  deck  chair,  which  was  almost  hidden 
under  a  heap  of  rugs.  He  had  just  adjusted  a  pair 
of  spectacles  and  was  preparing  to  settle  down  when 
Katharine,  in  her  nurse's  uniform,  issued  from  the 
companionway  and  stood  for  a  moment  looking  about 
her.     Crawshay  at  once  raised  his  cap. 

"  Good  morning.  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said.  "  You 
do  not  recognise  me,  of  course,  but  my  name  is  Craw- 
shay. I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you  once  at 
Washington." 

"  I  remember  you  quite  well,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she 
replied,  glancing  with  some  amusement  at  his  muffled- 
up  state.  "  Besides,  you  must  remember  that  you 
are  the  hero  of  the  ship.  I  suppose  I  ought  to  con- 
gratulate you  upon  your  wonderful  descent  upon  us 
3'esterday." 

"  Pray  don't  mention  it,"  Crawshay  murmured. 
"The  chance  just  came  my  way.  I  —  er — "  he 
went  on,  gazing  hard  at  her  uniform,  "  I  was  not 
aware  that  you  were  personally  interested  in  nurs- 
ing." 

"  That  shows  how  little  you  know  about  me,  Mr. 
Crawshay." 


66       THE  BOX  WITtI  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  have  heard,"  he  admitted,  "  of  jour  wonderful 
deeds  of  philanthropy,  also  that  you  entirely  support 
a  large  hospital  in  New  York,  but  I  had  no  idea  that 
you  interested  yourself  personally  in  the  —  er  — 
may  I  say  most  feminine  and  charming  avocation  of 
nursing?  " 

"  I  have  been  a  probationer,"  she  told  him,  "  in 
my  own  hospital,  and  I  am  at  the  present  moment  in 
attendance  upon  a  patient  on  board  this  steamer." 

^'  You  amaze  me !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  You  —  did  I 
understand  you  to  say  that  you  were  in  personal  at- 
tendance upon  a  patient?  " 

"  That  is  so,  Mr.  Crawshay." 

"  Well,  well,  forgive  my  astonishment,"  he  con- 
tinued. "  I  had  no  idea.  At  any  rate  I  am  glad 
that  your  patient's  state  of  health  permits  you  to 
leave  him  for  a  time." 

Her  expression  became  a  little  graver. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,"  she  sighed,  "  my  patient  is 
very  ill  indeed,  I  am  afraid.  However,  the  doctor 
shares  tlie  responsibility  with  me,  and  he  is  staying 
with  him  now  for  half  an  hour." 

"  May  I,  in  that  case,"  he  begged,  "  share  your 
promenade?  " 

"  With  pleasure,"  she  acquiesced,  without  enthusi- 
asm. "  You  will  have  to  take  off  some  of  your  coats, 
though." 

"  I  am  suffering  from  chill,"  he  explained.  "  I 
sometimes  think  that  I  shall  never  be  warm  again, 
after  my  experience  of  yesterday." 

He  divested  himself,  however,  of  his  outside  coat, 
arranged  his  muffler  carefully,  thrust  his  hands  into 
Lis  pockets,  and  fell  into  step  by  her  side. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS   67 

"  I  am  interested,"  he  observed,  "  in  illness.  What 
exactly  is  the  matter  with  your  charge?  " 

"  He  has  had  a  bad  operation,"  she  replied,  "  and 
there  are  complications." 

"  Dear  me !  Dear  me !  "  Crawshay  exclaimed,  in 
a  shocked  tone.  "  And  in  such  a  state  he  chooses  to 
make  a  perilous  voyage  like  this?  " 

"That  is  rather  his  affair,  is  it  not?"  she  said 
drily. 

"  Precisely,"  her  companion  agreed.  "  Precisely ! 
I  should  not,  perhaps,  have  made  the  remark. 
Sickness,  however,  interests  me  very  much.  I 
have  the  misfortune  not  to  be  strong  myself,  and 
my  own  ailments  occupy  a  good  deal  of  my  atten- 
tion." 

She  looked  at  him  curiously. 

"  You  suffer  from  nerves,  don't  you  ?  "  she  en- 
quired. 

"  Hideously,"  he  assented. 

"  And  yet,"  she  continued,  still  watching  him  in  a 
puzzled  fashion,  "  you  made  that  extraordinary  voy- 
age through  the  air  to  catch  this  steamer.  That 
doesn't  seem  to  me  to  be  at  all  the  sort  of  thing  a 
nervous  person  would  do." 

"  It  was  for  a  bet,"  he  explained  confidentially. 
"  The  only  occasion  upon  which  I  forget  my  nerves 
is  when  there  is  a  bet  to  be  lost  or  won.  At  the 
time,"  he  went  on,  "  my  deportment  was,  I  think,  all 
that  could  have  been  desired.  The  sensations  of 
which  I  was  undoubtedly  conscious  I  contrived  to 
adequately  conceal.  The  after-shock,  however,  has, 
I  must  admit,  been  considerable." 

"  Was  it  really  so  terribly  important,"   she  en- 


68       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

quired,  "  that  you  should  be  in  London  next  week?  " 

"  The  War  Office  made  a  special  point  of  it,"  he 
assured  her.  "  Got  to  join  up,  you  know,  directly  I 
arrive." 

"  Do  you  think,"  she  enquired  after  a  brief  pause, 
"  that  you  will  enjoy  soldiering  better  than  pseudo- 
diplomacy?  I  don't  exactly  know  how  to  refer  to 
your  work.  I  only  remember  that  when  we  were  in- 
troduced I  was  told  that  you  had  something  to  do 
with  the  Secret  Service." 

They  were  leaning  over  the  side  of  the  steamer, 
and  she  glanced  curiously  at  his  long,  rather  sunken 
facej  at  the  uncertain  mouth,  and  at  the  eyes,  care- 
fully concealed  behind  a  paii-  of  green  spectacles. 
He  seemed,  somehow,  to  have  aged  since  they  had 
first  met,  a  year  ago,  in  Washington. 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,"  he  confided,  "  I  am  a  little 
tired  of  ray  job.  Neither  fish  nor  fowl,  don't  you 
know.  I  took  an  observation  course  at  Scotland 
Yard,  but  I  suppose  I  am  too  slow-witted  for  what 
they  call  secret-service  work  over  here." 

"  America  wouldn't  provide  you  with  many  oppor- 
tunities, would  it?  "  she  observed. 

"  You  are  quite  right,"  he  replied.  "  I  am  much 
more  at  home  upon  the  Continent.  The  Secret  Serv- 
ice in  America,  as  we  understand  it,  does  not  exist. 
One  finds  oneself  continually  in  collaboration  with 
police  inspectors,  and  people  who  naturally  do  not 
understand  one's  point  of  view.  At  any  rate,"  he 
concluded,  with  a  little  sigh,  "  if  I  have  any  talents, 
they  haven't  come  to  the  front  in  Washington.  I 
don't  believe  that  dear  old  Sir  Richard  was  at  all 
sorry  to  see  the  last  of  me." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       69 

"  And  you  think  you  will  prefer  your  new  pro- 
fession? " 

"  Soldiering?  Well,  I  shall  have  to  train  up  a  bit 
and  see.  Beastly  ugly  work  they  seem  to  make  of  it, 
nowadays.  I  don't  mind  roughing  it  up  to  the  ex- 
tent of  my  capacity,  but  I  do  think  that  the  advice 
of  one's  medical  man  should  be  taken  into  considera- 
tion." 

She  laughed  at  him  openly. 

"  Do  you  know,"  she  said,  "  I  can't  picture  you 
campaigning  in  France !  " 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth  I  can't  picture  it  myself," 
he  confessed  frankly.  "  The  stories  I  have  heard 
with  reference  to  the  absence  of  physical  comforts 
are  something  appalling.  By-the-by,"  he  went  on, 
as  though  the  idea  had  suddenly  occurred  to  him,  "  I 
can't  think  how  your  patient  can  rest,  anyhow,  after 
an  operation,  on  beds  like  there  are  on  this  steamer. 
I  call  it  positively  disgraceful  of  the  company  to 
impose  such  mattresses  upon  their  patrons.  My 
bones  positively  ache  this  morning." 

"  Mr.  Phillips  has  his  own  mattress,"  she  told 
him,  "  or  rather  one  of  the  hospital  ones.  He  was 
carried  straight  into  the  ambulance  from  the  ward." 

"  Mr. —  er  —  Phillips,"  Crawshay  repeated. 
"  Have  I  ever  met  him?  " 

"  I  should  think  not." 

"  He  is,  of  course,  a  very  great  friend  of  yours?  " 

"  I  don't  know  why  you  should  suppose  that." 

"  Come,  come,"  he  remonstrated,  "  I  suppose  I 
am  an  infernally  curious,  prying  sort  of  chap,  but 
when  one  thinks  of  you,  a  society  belle  of  America, 
you  know,  and,  further,  tlite  patroness  of  that  great 


70       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

hospital,  crossing  the  Atlantic  yourself  in  charge  of 
a  favoured  patient,  one  can't  help  —  can  one?  " 

"  Can  one  what?  "  she  asked  coolly. 

"  Scenting  a  romance  or  a  mystery,"  he  replied. 
"  In  any  case,  Mr.  Phillips  must  be  a  man  of  some 
determination,  to  risk  so  much  just  for  the  sake  of 
getting  home." 

She  turned  and  recommenced  their  promenade. 

"  I  wonder  whether  you  realise  that  it  isn't  eti- 
quette to  question  a  nurse  about  her  patient,"  she 
reminded  him. 

"  I'm  sure  I  am  very  sorry,"  he  assured  her.  "  I 
didn't  imagine  that  my  questions  were  in  any  way 
offensive.  I  told  you  from  the  first  that  I  was  al- 
ways interested  in  invalids  and  cases  of  illness." 

She  turned  her  head  and  looked  at  him.  Her 
glance  was  reproving,  her  manner  impatient. 

"  Really,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she  said,  "  I  think  that 
you  are  one  of  the  most  inquisitive  people  I  ever 
met." 

"  It  really  isn't  inquisitiveness,"  he  protested. 
*'  It's  just  obstinacy.  I  hate  to  leave  a  problem  un- 
explained." 

"  Then  to  prevent  any  further  misunderstand- 
ing, Mr.  Crawshay,"  she  concluded,  a  little  coldly, 
"  let  me  tell  you  that  there  are  private  reasons  which 
make  any  further  questioning  on  your  part,  con- 
cerning this  matter,  impertinent." 

Crawshay  lifted  his  cap.  He  had  the  air  of  a 
man  who  has  received  a  rebuff  which  he  takes  in  ill 
part. 

"  I  will  not  risk  your  further  displeasure,  Miss 
Beverley,"  he  said,  stopping  by  his  steamer  ch»ij*- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       71 

**  I  trust  that  you  will  enjoy  the  remainder  of  your 
promenade.     Good  morning !  " 

He  summoned  the  deck  steward  to  arrange  his 
rugs,  and  lay  back  in  his  steamer  chair,  eating  broth 
which  he  loathed,  and  watching  Jocelyn  Thew  and 
Katharine  Beverley  through  spectacles  which  some- 
what impaired  his  vision.  The  two  had  strolled  to- 
gether to  the  side  of  the  ship  to  watch  a  shoal  of 
porpoises  go  by. 

"  I  see  that  you  are  acquainted  with  our  hero  of 
the  seaplane,"  Jocelyn  Thew  remarked. 

She  nodded. 

"  I  met  him  once  at  Washington  and  once  at  the 
polo  games." 

"  Tell  me  what  you  think  of  him.''  " 

She  smiled. 

"  Well,"  she  confessed,  "  I  scarcely  know  how  to 
think  of  him.  I  must  say,  though,  that  in  a  general 
way  I  should  think  any  profession  would  suit  him 
better  than  diplomacy." 

"  You  find  him  stupid?  " 

"  I  do,"  she  admitted,  "  and  in  a  particularly 
British  way." 

Jocelyn  glanced  thoughtfully  across  at  Crawshay, 
who  was  contemplating  his  empty  cup  with  apparent 
regret. 

"  You  will  not  think  that  I  am  taking  a  liberty, 
Miss  Beverley,  if  I  ask  you  a  question?" 

"  Why  should  I  ?     Is  it  so  very  personal  ?  " 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  isn't  personal  at  all.  I 
was  only  going  to  ask  you  if  3'ou  would  mind  telling 
me  what  our  friend  Mr.  Crawshay  was  talking  to 
you  about  just  now?  " 


72       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Are  you  really  interested?  "  she  asked,  with  an 
air  of  faint  surprise.  "  Well,  if  you  must  know,  he 
was  asking  questions  about  my  patient.  He  ap- 
pears to  be  something  of  a  hypochondriac  himself, 
and  he  is  very  interested  in  illnesses." 

"  He  has  the  air  of  one  who  takes  care  of  himself," 
Jocelyn  observed,  with  a  faint  smile.  "  However, 
one  mustn't  judge.     He  may  be  delicate." 

"  I  think  he  is  an  old  woman,"  she  remarked  care- 
lessly. 

"  He  rather  gives  one  that  impression,  doesn't  he?  " 
Jocelyn  agreed.  "  By-the-by,  there  wasn't  much  you 
could  tell  him  about  your  patient,  was  there?  " 

"  There  really  isn't  anything  at  all,"  she  replied. 
"  I  just  mentioned  his  condition,  and  as  Mr.  Craw- 
shay  still  seemed  curious,  I  reminded  him  that  it  was 
not  etiquette  to  question  a  nurse  about  her  patients." 

"  Most  discreet,"  Jocelyn  declared.  "  As  a  mat- 
ter of  fact,"  he  went  on,  "  I  have  scarcely  thought  it 
worth  while  to  mention  it  to  you,  because  I  knew 
exactly  the  sort  of  answer  you  would  make  to  any 
too  curious  questions,  but  there  is  a  reason,  and  a 
very  serious  reason,  why  my  friend  Phillips  wishes 
to  avoid  so  far  as  possible  all  manner  of  notice  and 
questions." 

"  You  call  him  your  friend  Phillips,"  she  remarked, 
"  yet  you  don't  seem  to  have  been  near  him  since  we 
started." 

"  Nor  do  I  intend  to,"  he  replied.  "  That  is  the 
other  point  concerning  which  I  wish  to  speak  to  you. 
You  may  think  it  very  extraordinary,  and  I  offer 
no  explanation,  but  I  do  not  wish  it  known  to  —  say, 
Mr.  Crawshay,  or  any  other  casual  enquirer,  that  I 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       73 

have  any  acquaintance  with  or  interest  in  Phillips." 

"The  subject  is  dismissed,"  she  promised  lightly. 
"  I  am  not  in  the  least  an  inquisitive  person.  I  un- 
derstand perfectly,  and  my  lips  are  sealed." 

His  little  smile  of  thanks  momentarily  transformed 
his  expression.  Her  eyes  became  softer  as  they  met 
his. 

"  Now  please  walk  with  me  for  a  little  time,"  she 
begged,  "  and  let  us  leave  off  talking  of  these  grizzly 
subjects.  You've  really  taken  very  little  notice  of 
me  so  far,  and  I  have  been  rather  looking  forward 
to  the  voyage.  You  have  traveled  so  much  that  I 
am  quite  sure  you  could  be  a  most  interesting  com- 
panion if  you  wished  to  be." 

He  obeyed  at  once,  falling  easily  into  step  with 
her,  and  talking  lightly  enough  about  the  vo^^age, 
their  fellow  passengers,  and  other  trifling  subjects. 
Her  occasional  attempts  to  lead  the  conversation  into 
more  serious  channels,  even  to  the  subject  of  his 
travels,  he  avoided,  however,  with  a  curious  persist- 
ency. Once  she  stopped  short  and  forced  him  to 
look  at  her. 

"  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,"  she  complained,  "  tell  me 
why  you  persist  in  treating  me  like  a  child?  " 

Then  for  the  first  time  his  tone  became  graver. 

"  I  want  to  treat  you  and  think  of  you,"  he  said, 
"  in  the  only  way  that  is  possible  for  me." 

"  Explain,  please,"  she  begged. 

He  led  her  again  to  the  side  of  the  ship.  The  sea 
'\ad  freshened,  and  the  spray  flew  past  them  like 
salt  diamonds. 

"  Since  it  has  pleased  you  to  refer  to  the  subject, 
INIiss  Beverley,"  he  said  seriously,  "  I  will  explain  so 


74       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

far  as  I  am  able.  I  suppose  that  I  have  committed 
nearly  every  one  of  the  crimes  which  our  abbreviated 
dictionary  of  modern  life  enumerates.  If  the  truth 
were  known  about  me,  and  I  were  judged  by  certain 
prevailing  laws,  not  only  my  reputation  but  my  life 
might  be  in  serious  danger.  But  there  is  one  crime 
which  I  have  not  committed  and  which  I  do  not  in- 
tend to  commit,  one  pain  which  I  have  avoided  all  my 
life  myself,  and  avoided  inflicting  upon  others.  I 
think  you  must  know  what  I  refer  to." 

"  I  can  assure  you  that  I  do  not,"  she  told  him 
frankly.  "  In  any  case  I  hate  ambiguity.  Do  please 
tell  me  exactlj^  what  you  mean." 

"  I  was  referring  to  my  attitude  towards  your 
sex,"  he  replied. 

There  was  a  faint  twinkle  in  her  eyes. 

"  That  sounds  so  ponderous,"  she  murmured. 
"  Don't  you  like  us,  then?  " 

"  There  are  circumstances  in  my  life,"  he  said, 
"  which  prevent  my  even  considering  the  subject." 

She  turned  and  looked  him  full  in  the  eyes.  Her 
very  sweet  mouth  was  suddenly  pathetic,  her  eyes 
were  full  of  gentle  resentment. 

"  I  do  not  believe,"  she  said  firmly,  "  that  you  have 
done  a  single  thing  in  life  of  which  you  ouglit  to  be 
ashamed.  I  do  not  believe  one  of  the  hard  things 
you  have  said  about  yourself.  I  am  not  a  child. 
I  am  a  woman  —  twenty-six  years  old  —  and  I  like 
to  choose  my  own  friends.  I  should  like  you  to  be 
my  friend,  Mr.  Thew." 

He  murmured  a  few  words  entirely  conventional. 
Nothing  in  his  expression  responded  in  the  least  to 
the  appeal  of  her  words.     His  face  had  grown  like 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       75 

granite.  He  turned  to  the  purser,  who  was  strolliiif^ 
by.  As  though  unconsciously,  the  finer  qualities  of 
his  voice  had  gone  as  he  engaged  the  latter  in  some 
trivial  conversation. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

That  night  at  dinner  time  a  stranger  appeared  at 
the  captain's  table.  A  dark,  thick-browed  man,  in 
morning  clothes  of  professional  cut,  was  shown  by 
one  of  the  saloon  stewards  to  a  seat  which  had  hith- 
erto been  vacant.  Crawshay,  whose  place  was  nearly 
opposite,  leaned  across  at  once  with  an  air  of  inter- 
est. 

"  Good  evening,  Doctor,"  he  said. 

"  Good  evening,  sir,"  was  the  somewhat  gruff  re- 

"  Glad  to  see  that  you  are  able  to  come  in  and  join 
us,"  Crawshay  continued,  unabashed.  "  You  are,  I 
believe,  the  physician  in  attendance  on  Mr.  Phillips. 
I  am  very  interested  in  illnesses.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
I  am  a  great  invalid  myself." 

The  doctor  contented  himself  with  a  muttered  mon- 
osyllable which  was  not  brimful  of  sympathy. 

"  This  is  a  very  remarkable  expedition  of  yours," 
Crawshay  went  on.  "  I  am  a  man  of  very  little 
sentiment  myself  —  one  place  to  me  is  very  much 
like  another  —  so  I  do  not  understand  this  wild  de- 
sire on  the  part  of  an  invalid  to  risk  his  life  by 
undertaking  such  a  journey.  It  is  a  great  feat,  how- 
ever. It  shows  what  can  be  accomplished  by  a  man 
of  determination,  even  when  he  is  on  the  point  of 
death." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       77 

"  Who  said  that  my  patient  was  on  the  point  of 
death?  "  the  doctor  demanded  brusquely. 

"  It  is  common  report,"  Crawshay  assured  him. 
"  Besides,  as  you  know,  the  New  York  press  got  hold 
of  the  story  before  you  started,  and  the  facts  were 
in  all  the  evening  papers." 

"\Vhat  facts.?" 

"Didn't  you  read  them?  Most  interesting!" 
Crawshay  continued.  "  They  all  took  the  same  line, 
and  agreed  that  it  was  an  absolutely  unprecedented 
occurrence  for  a  man  to  embark  upon  an  ocean  voy- 
age only  a  few  days  after  an  operation  for  appen- 
dicitis, with  double  pneumonia  behind,  and  angina 
pectoris  intervening.  Almost  as  unusual,"  Craw- 
shay concluded  with  a  little  bow,  "  as  the  fact  of  his 
being  escorted  by  the  most  distinguished  amateur 
nurse  in  the  world,  and  a  physician  of  such  distinc- 
tion as  Doctor  —  Doctor  —  Dear  me,  how  extraor- 
dinary !  For  the  moment  I  must  confess  that  your 
name  has  escaped  me." 

The  heavy-browed  man  leaned  forward  a  little  de- 
liberately towards  his  vis-a-vis.  His  was  not  an  at- 
tractive personality.  His  features  were  large  and 
of  bulldog  type.  His  forehead  was  low,  and  his 
eyes,  which  gave  one  the  impression  of  being  clear 
and  penetrating,  were  concealed  by  heavy  spectacles. 
His  hands  only,  which  were  well-shaped  and  cared 
for,  might  have  indicated  his  profession. 

"  My  name,"  he  said,  "  Is  Gant  —  Doctor  James 
H.  Gant.  You  are  not,  I  presume,  a  medical  man 
yourself?  " 

Crawshay  shook  his  head. 

"  A  most  admirable  profession,"  he  declared,  "  but 


78       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

one  which  I  sliould  never  have  the  nerve  to  follow." 

"  You  do  not,  therefore,  appreciate  the  fact," 
Doctor  Gant  continued,  "  that  a  medical  man,  espe- 
cially one  connected  with  a  hospital  of  such  high 
standing  as  St.  Agnes's,  does  not  discuss  his  patient's 
ailments  with  strangers." 

"  No  offence.  Doctor  —  no  offence,  Crawshay 
protested  across  the  table.  "  Mine  is  just  the  nat- 
ural interest  in  a  fellow  sufferer  of  a  man  who  has 
known  most  of  the  ailments  to  which  we  weak  humans 
arc  subject." 

"  I  suppose,  as  we  have  the  pleasure  of  your  com- 
pany this  evening,"  the  captain  intervened,  "  Miss 
Beverley  will  be  an  absentee.''  " 

*'  Miss  Beverley  at  the  present  moment  is  taking 
my  place,"  the  doctor  replied.  "  She  insisted  upon 
it.  Personally,  I  am  used  to  eating  at  all  times  and 
in  all  manner  of  places." 

There  was  a  brief  silence,  during  which  Crawshay 
discussed  the  subject  of  inoculation  for  colds  in  the 
head  with  his  neighbour  on  the  other  side,  and  the 
doctor  showed  a  very  formidable  capacity  for  mak- 
ing up  for  any  meals  which  he  might  have  missed  by 
too  rigid  an  attention  to  his  patient.  The  captain 
presently  addressed  him  again. 

"  Have  you  met  our  ship's  doctor  yet.''  "  he  en- 
quired. 

"  I  have  had  that  honour,"  Doctor  Gant  acknowl- 
edged. "  He  was  good  enough  to  call  upon  me  yes- 
terday and  offer  his  assistance  should  I  require  it." 

"  A  very  clever  fellow,  I  believe,"  the  captain  ob- 
served. 

"  He   impressed   me   some,"   the   other   confessed. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS   79 

*'  If  any  further  complications  should  arise,  it  will 
be  a  relief  for  me  to  consult  him." 

The  subject  of  the  sick  man  dropped.  Crawshay 
walked  out  of  the  saloon  with  the  captain  and  left 
him  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs. 

"  I'll  take  the  liberty  of  paying  you  a  short  call 
presently,  Captain,  if  I  may,"  he  said.  "  I  just  want 
to  fetch  my  wraps.  And  by-the-by,  did  I  tell  you 
that  I  have  been  fortunate  enough  to  find  a  pair  of 
rubbers  that  just  fit  me,  at  the  barber's.''  One  of 
the  greatest  blessings  on  board  ship,  Captain,  believe 
me,  is  the  barber's  shop.  It's  like  a  bijou  Harrod's 
or  Whiteley's  —  anything  you  want,  from  an  ele- 
phant to  a  needle,  you  know.  In  about  ten  minutes. 
Captain,  if  I  shan't  be  disturbing  j^ou." 

The  captain  found  the  purser  on  deck  and  took 
him  into  his  cabin. 

"  I  saw  you  speaking  to  Doctor  Gant  in  the 
gangway,"  the  former  observed.  "  I  wonder  what  he 
really  thinks  about  his  patient?  " 

"  I  think  I  can  tell  you  that,  sir,  without  betray- 
ing any  confidences,"  the  purser  replied.  "  Unless  a 
miracle  happens,  there'll  be  a  burial  before  we  get 
across.  Poor  fellow,  it  seems  too  bad  after  such  an 
eflTort." 

The  captain  nodded  sympathetically. 

"  After  all,  I  can  understand  this  hankering  of  a 
man  to  die  in  his  own  country,"  he  said.  "  I  had 
a  brother  once  the  same  way.  They  brought  him 
home  from  Australia,  d>nng  all  the  way,  as  they  be- 
lieved, but  directly  he  set  foot  in  England  he  seemed 
to  take  on  a  new  lease  of  life  —  lived  for  years  after- 
wards." 


8o       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Is  that  so  ?  "  the  purser  remarked.  "  Well,  this 
fellow  ought  to  have  a  chance.  It's  a  short  voyage, 
and  he  has  his  own  doctor  and  nurse  to  look  after 
him." 

"  Let's  hope  they'll  keep  him  alive,  then.  I  hate 
the  burial  service  at  sea." 

The  captain  turned  aside  and  filled  his  pipe 
thoughtfully. 

"  Dix,"  he  continued,  "  as  you  know,  I  am  not  a 
superstitious  man,  but  there  seems  to  be  something 
about  this  trip  I  can't  fathom." 

"  Meaning,  sir.''  " 

"  Well,  there's  this  wireless  business,  first  of  all. 
We  shall  close  it  up  in  about  thirty-six  hours,  you 
know,  and  in  the  meantime  I  have  been  expecting 
half  a  dozen  messages,  not  one  of  which  has  come 
through." 

"  Young  fellow  of  the  highest  character,  Robins," 
the  purser  remarked  drily. 

"  That  may  be,"  the  captain  agreed,  "  and  yet  I 
can't  get  rid  of  my  premonition.  I  wouldn't  mind 
laying  you  anything  you  like,  Dix,  that  we  don't 
sight  a  submarine,  and  shouldn't,  even  if  we  hadn't 
our  guns  trained." 

"  That's  one  comfort,  anyway.  Being  a  family 
man,  sir  — " 

"  Yes,  I  know  all  about  your  family,  Dix,"  the 
captain  interrupted  irritably,  "  but  just  at  the  pres- 
ent moment  I  am  more  interested  in  what  is  going  on 
in  my  ship.  I  begin  to  believe  that  Mr.  Crawshay's 
voyage  through  the  air  wasn't  altogether  a  piece  of 
bravado,  after  all." 

The  purser  smiled  a  little  incredulously. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       8i 

**  He  sent  round  this  evening  to  know  if  I  could 
lend  him  some  flannel  pyjamas,"  he  said, — "  says  all 
the  things  that  have  been  collected  together  for  him 
are  too  thin.     That  man  makes  me  tired,  sir." 

"  He  makes  me  wonder." 

"How's  that,  sir?" 

"  Because  I  can't  size  him  up,"  the  captain  de- 
clared. *'  There  isn't  a  soul  on  board  who  isn't 
laughing  at  him  and  saying  what  a  sissy  he  is.  They 
say  he  has  smuggled  an  extra  lifebelt  into  his  cabin, 
and  spends  half  his  time  being  seasick  and  the  other 
half  looking  out  for  submarines." 

"  That's  the  sort  of  fellow  he  seems  to  me,  any- 
way," the  purser  observed. 

"  I  can't  say  that  I've  quite  made  up  my  mind," 
the  captain  pronounced.  "  I  suppose  you  know,  Dix, 
that  he  was  connected  with  the  Secret  Service  at  the 
English  Embassy.?" 

"  I  didn't  know  it,"  Dix  replied,  "  but  if  he  has 
been,  Lord  help  us !  No  wonder  the  Germans  have 
got  ahead  of  us  every  time !  " 

"  I  don't  think  he  was  much  of  a  success,"  the 
other  continued,  "  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  he  is  on 
his  way  back  to  England  now  to  do  his  bit  of  sol- 
diering. All  the  same,  Dix,  he  gave  me  a  turn  the 
other  day." 

"How's  that,  sir?" 

"  Showed  me  an  order,  signed  by  a  person  I  won't 
name,"  the  captain  went  on,  lowering  his  voice,  "  re- 
questing me  to  practically  run  the  ship  according  to 
his  directions  —  making  him  a  kind  of  Almighty 
boss." 

Mr.  Dix  opened  his  lips  and  closed  them  again. 


82       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

His  eyes  were  wide  open  with  astonishment.  There 
was  an  indecisive  knock  at  the  door,  which  at  a  ges- 
ture from  the  captain  he  opened.  Wrapped  in  a  huge 
overcoat,  with  a  cap  buttoned  around  his  ears  and  a 
scarf  nearly  up  to  his  mouth,  Crawshay  stood  there, 
seeking  admittance. 

"  I  am  exceedingly  fortunate  to  find  you  both 
here,"  the  newcomer  observed,  as  he  removed  his  cap. 
"  Captain,  may  I  have  a  few  minutes'  conversation 
with  you  and  Mr.  Dix.'*  " 

"  Delighted,"  the  captain  acquiesced,  "  so  long  as 
you  don't  keep  me  more  than  twenty  minutes.  I  am 
due  on  the  bridge  at  nine  o'clock." 

"  I  will  endeavour  not  to  be  prolix,"  Crawshay 
continued,  carefully  removing  his  rubbers,  unfasten- 
ing his  scarf  and  loosening  his  overcoat.  "  A  damp 
night !     I  fear  that  we  may  have  fog." 

"  This  all  comes  off  the  twenty  minutes,"  the  cap- 
tain reminded  him. 

Crawshay  smiled  appreciatively. 

"  Into  the  heart  of  things,  then !  Let  me  tell  you 
that  I  suspect  a  conspiracy  on  board  this  boat." 

"Of  what  nature?"  the  captain  asked  swiftly. 

"  It  is  my  opinion,"  Crawshay  said  deliberately, 
"  that  the  result  of  the  whole  accumulated  work  of 
the  German  Secret  Service,  compiled  since  the  be- 
ginning of  the  war  by  means  of  Secret  Service  agents, 
criminals,  and  patriotic  Germans  and  Austrians  resi- 
dent in  the  States,  is  upon  this  ship." 

"Hell!"  the  purser  murmured,  without  reproof 
from  his  chief. 

"  It   was   believed,"    Crawshay   continued,    "  that 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       83 

these  documents,  together  with  a  letter  of  vital  im- 
portance, were  on  the  steamer  which  conve3'ed  the 
personnel  of  the  late  German  Ambassador  to  Eu- 
rope. The  steamer  was  delayed  at  Halifax  and  a 
more  or  less  complete  search  was  made.  I  was  pres- 
ent on  behalf  of  the  English  Embassy,  but  I  did  not 
join  personally  in  the  search.  You  have  all  heard 
that  the  seals  of  a  tin  chest  belonging  to  a  neutral 
country  had  been  tampered  with.  The  chiefs  of  my 
department,  and  the  head  of  the  American  Secret 
Service,  firmly  believe  that  the  missing  papers  are 
in  that  chest  and  will  be  discovered  when  the  chest 
is  opened  in  London.  That  is  not  a  belief  which  I 
share." 

"  And  your  reasons,  Mr.  Crawshay.''  "  the  captain 
asked. 

"  First,  because  Hobson  and  I  were  decoyed  to 
Chicago  by  a  bogus  telegram,  evidently  with  the 
idea  that  we  should  find  it  impossible  to  catch  or 
search  this  steamer.  Secondly,  because  there  is  on 
board  just  the  one  man  whom  I  believe  capable  of 
conceiving  and  carrying  out  a  task  as  difficult  as  this 
one  would  be." 

"  Who  is  he?  "  the  captain  demanded. 

"  A  very  inoffensive,  well-mannered  and  exceed- 
ingly well-informed  individual  who  is  travelling  in 
this  steamer  under,  I  believe,  his  owti  name  —  Mr. 
Jocelyn  Thew." 

"  Jocelyn  Thew  !  "  the  captain  murmured. 

"  Thew  !  "  the  purser  repeated. 

"  Now  I  tell  you  that  I  have  definite  suspicions  of 
his  man,"  Crawshay  continued,  "  because  T  know  that 
for  some  reason  or  other  he  hates  England,  although 


84       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

he  has  the  appearance  of  being  an  Englishman.  I 
know  that  he  has  been  friendly  with  enemy  agents 
in  New  York,  and  I  know  that  he  has  been  in  recent 
communication  with  enemy  headquarters  at  Wash- 
ington. Therefore,  as  I  say,  I  suspect  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew.  I  also  suspect  Robins,  the  wireless  operator, 
because  I  am  convinced  that  he  has  received  massages 
of  which  he  has  taken  no  record.  I  now  pass  on  to 
the  remainder  of  my  suspicions,  for  which  I  frankly 
admit  that  I  have  nothing  but  surmise.  I  suspect 
jNIr.  Phillips,  Doctor  Gant  and  Miss  Katharine 
Beverley." 

The  last  shock  proved  too  much  for  the  captain. 
For  the  first  time  there  was  distinct  incredulity  in  his 
face. 

"  Look  here,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  protested,  "  sup- 
posing you  are  right,  and  that  you  are  on  the  track 
of  a  conspiracy,  how  do  you  account  for  a  physician 
from  the  finest  hospital  in  New  York  and  one  of  the 
best-known  young  ladies  in  America  being  mixed  up 
in  it.?" 

Crawshay  acknowledged  the  difficulties  of  the  sup- 
position. 

"  As  regards  the  physician,"  he  said  thoughtfully, 
"  I  must  confess  that  I  am  without  information  con- 
cerning him,  a  fact  which  increases  my  suspicion  of 
Robins,  for  I  should  have  had  his  dossier,  and  also 
that  of  the  man  Phillips,  by  wireless  twenty-four 
hours  ago." 

"What  about  Miss  Beverley  then?"  the  captain 
enquired.  "  Her  family  is  not  only  one  of  the  oldest 
in  America,  but  they  are  real  Puritan,  Anglo-Saxon 
stock,  white  through  and  through.     She  has  a  dozen 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       85 

relatives  in  Congress,  who  have  all  been  working  for 
war  with  Germany  for  the  last  two  years.  She  also 
I  as,  as  she  told  me  herself,  a  brother  and  four  cous- 
ins fighting  on  the  French  front  —  the  brother  in 
the  Canadian  Fhnng  Corps,  and  the  cousins  in  the 
English  Army." 

"  There  I  must  confess  that  you  have  me,"  Craw- 
shay  admitted.  "  What  you  say  is  perfectly  true. 
That  :s  one  of  the  mysteries.  No  plot  would  be 
worth  solving,  you  know,  if  it  hadn't  a  few  mysteries 
in  it." 

"  If  you  will  allow  me  a  word,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  the 
purser  intervened,  "  I  think  you  will  have  to  leave 
Doctor  Gant  and  his  patient  and  Miss  Beverley  out 
of  your  speculations.  I  have  our  own  ship  doctor's 
word  for  it  that  Mr.  Phillips'  condition  is  exactly  as 
has  been  stated.  ]\Ir.  Jocelyn  Thew  may  or  may 
not  be  a  suspicious  character.  Anything  you  sug- 
gest in  the  way  of  watching  him  can  be  done.  But 
as  regards  'the  other  three,  I  trust  that  you  will 
not  wish  their  comfort  interfered  with  in  any  re- 
spect." 

"  Beyond  the  search  to  which  every  one  on  board 
will  have  to  be  subjected,"  Crawshay  replied,  "  I  shall 
not  interfere  in  any  respect  with  the  three  people 
■in  question.  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,  however,  is  differ- 
ent. He  is  a  man  who  has  led  a  most  adventurous 
life.  He  seems  to  have  travelled  in  every  part  of  the 
globe,  wherever  there  was  trouble  brewing  or  a  little 
fighting  to  be  done." 

"  Why  do  you  connect  him  with  the  present  enter- 
prise? "  the  captain  asked. 

"  Because,"    Crawshay    answered,    "  the   wireless 


86       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

message  of  which  your  man  Robins  took  no  record, 
and  concerning  which  you  have  kept  silence  at  m; 
request,  was  dehvered  to  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew.  Be- 
cause, too,"  he  went  on,  "  it  is  my  very  earnest  belief 
that  at  somewhere  in  the  small  hours  of  this  n.orn- 
ing  there  will  be  another  message,  and  Mr.  Jccelyn 
Thew  will  be  on  deck  to  receive  it." 

The  captain  knocked  out  the  ashes  of  his  pipe  a 
little  apprehensively. 

"  If  half  what  you  suspect  is  true,  Mr.  Crawshay," 
he  said,  "  you  will  forgive  my  saying  so,  but  Jocelyn 
Thew  is  not  a  man  you  ought  to  tackle  without  assist- 
ance." 

There  was  a  peculiar  glitter  in  Crawshay's  deep- 
set  eyes.  For  a  single  moment  a  new-born  strength 
seemed  to  deepen  the  lines  in  his  face  —  a  transform- 
ing change. 

"  You  needn't  worry.  Captain,"  he  remarked 
coolly.  "  I  am  not  taking  too  many  chances,  and  if 
our  friend  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  should  turn  out  to  be 
the  man  I  believe  him  to  be,  I  would  rather  tackle  him 
alone." 

"  Why,"  Mr.  Dix  demanded,  "  should  anything  in 
the  shape  of  violence  take  place?  The  ship  can  be 
searched,  every  article  of  baggage  ransacked,  and 
every  passenger  made  to  run  the  gauntlet." 

Crawshay  smiled. 

"  The  search  you  speak  of  is  already  arranged 
for,  Mr.  Dix,"  he  said ;  "  long  cables  from  my  friend 
Hobson  have  already  reached  Liverpool  —  but  the 
efficacy  of  such  a  proposed  search  would  depend  a 
little,  would  it  not,  upon  whether  we  reach  Liver- 
pool?" 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS   87 

"  But  if  we  were  submarined,"  the  captain  pointed 
out,  "  the  papers  would  go  to  the  bottom." 

Crawshay  leaned  forward  and  whispered  one  word 
in  the  captain's  ear.  The  latter  sat  for  a  moment 
as  though  paralysed. 

"  What's  to  prevent  that  fellow  Robins  bringing 
her  right  on  to  our  track?  "  Crawshay  demanded. 
*'  That  is  the  reason  I  spent  last  night  listening  for 
the  wireless.  It's  the  reason  I'm  going  to  do  the 
same  to-night." 

The  captain  sprang  to  his  feet. 

"  We'll  run  no  risks  about  this,"  he  declared  firmly. 
^'  We'll  dismantle  the  apparatus.  I'd  never  hold  up 
my  head  again  if  the  Von  Bluclier  got  us !  " 

Crawshay  held  out  his  hand. 

"  Forgive  me.  Captain,"  he  said,  "  but  we  want 
proof.  Leave  it  to  me,  and  if  things  are  as  I  sus- 
pect, we'll  have  that  proof  —  probably  before  to- 
morrow morning,"  he  added,  glancing  at  the  chart. 

There  was  a  call  down  the  deck,  a  knock  at  the 
door.     The  captain  took  up  his  oilskins  regretfully. 

"You  will  remember,"  Crawshay  enjoined,  "that 
little  mandate  I  showed  you.''" 

The  captain  nodded  grimly. 

"  I  am  in  your  hands,"  he  admitted.  "  Don't  for- 
get that  the  safety  of  the  ship  may  be  in  your  hands, 
too !  " 

"  Perhaps,"  Crawshay  whispered,  "  even  more  than 
the  safety  of  the  ship." 


CHAPTER  IX 

Robins,  the  wireless  operator,  bent  closer  over  his 
instrument,  and  the  blue  fires  flashed  from  the  mast- 
head of  the  steamer,  cutting  their  way  through  the 
darkness  into  the  black  spaces  beyond.  The  little 
room  was  lit  by  a  dull  oil  light,  the  door  was  fast- 
closed  and  locked.  Away  into  the  night  sped  one 
continual  message. 

"  Steamship  City  of  Boston,  lat.  .  .  .  long.  .  .  . 
lying  four  points  to  northward  of  usual  course.  Re- 
ply." 

A  time  came  when  the  young  man  ceased  from  his 
labours  and  sat  up  with  a  yawn.  He  stretched  out 
his  hand  and  lit  a  cigarette,  walked  to  the  little  round 
window  which  commanded  the  deck,  gazed  out  of  it 
steadily,  and  turned  back  once  more  to  his  chair 
before  the  instrument.  Then  something  happened. 
A  greater  shock  than  any  that  lay  in  the  blue 
lightning  which  he  had  been  generating  was  await- 
ing him.  His  right  hand  was  suddenly  gripped  and 
held  on  to  the  table.  He  found  himself  gazing 
straight  down  the  black  bore  of  a  small  but  uncom- 
monly ugly-looking  revolver.  A  voice  which  seemed 
remarkable  for  its  convincing  qualities,  addressed 
him. 

"  If  you  speak  a  word,  Robins,  move,  or  show  signs 
of  any  attempt  to  struggle,  I  shall  shoot  you.  I 
have  the  right  and  the  power." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       89 

Robins,  a  young  man  of  nerve,  whose  name  stood 
high  on  an  official  list  of  those  who  might  be  relied 
upon  for  any  desperate  enterprise,  sat  like  a  numbed 
thing.  Dim  visions  of  the  face  of  this  man,  only  a 
few  feet  away  from  his  own,  assailed  him  under  some 
very  different  guise.  It  was  Crawshay  the  man, 
stripped  for  action,  whose  lean,  strong  fingers  were 
gripping  the  butt  of  that  revolver,  and  whose  eyes 
were  holding  him  like  gimlets. 

*'  Now,  if  you  are  wise,  answer  me  a  few  questions," 
Crawshay  began.  "  I'd  have  brought  the  captain 
with  me,  but  I  thought  we  might  do  better  business 
alone.  You've  been  advertising  the  ship's  where- 
abouts.    Why?" 

"  I've  only  been  giving  the  usual  calls,"  the  young 
man  muttered. 

"'  Don't  lie  to  me,"  was  the  grim  reply.  "  Your 
wireless  was  supposed  to  be  silent  from  yesterday 
midday  except  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  calls.  I 
ask  you  again,  why  and  to  whom  were  you  advertis- 
ing our  whereabouts  and  course?  " 

Robins  looked  at  the  revolver,  looked  at  Crawshay, 
and  was  dimly  conscious  of  a  damp  feeling  about  his 
forehead.  Nevertheless,  his  lips  were  screwed  to- 
gether, and  he  remained  silent. 

"  Come,"  Crawshay  went  on,  "  we'll  have  a  com- 
mon-sense talk.  I  am  an  agent  of  the  British  Se- 
cret Service.  I  have  unlimited  powers  upon  this  ship, 
power  to  put  a  bullet  through  your  head  if  I  choose, 
and  not  a  soul  to  question  it.  The  game's  up  so  far 
as  you  are  concerned.  You  have  received  messages 
on  this  steamer  of  which  you  have  kept  no  record,  but 
which  you  have  delivered  secretly  to  a  certain  pas- 


go       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

senger.  Of  that  I  may  or  may  not  speak  later  on. 
At  present  I  am  more  interested  in  your  opera- 
tions of  to-night.  You  are  signalHng  the  informa- 
tion of  our  whereabouts  for  some  definite  reason. 
What  is  it?  Were  you  trying  to  pick  up  the 
Blucher?  " 

"  I  wasn't  trying  to  pick  up  anybody,"  the  young 
man  faltered. 

Crawshay's  fingers  gripped  him  by  the  shoulder. 
His  very  determined^looking  mouth  had  suddenly  be- 
come a  ring  of  steel. 

"  If  you  don't  give  me  a  different  answer  in  ten 
seconds,  Robins,  I'll  blow  your  brains  all  over  the 
cabin ! " 

The  young  man  broke. 

"  I  was  trying  to  pick  up  the  Blucher,^*  he  acknowl- 
edged. 

"  That's  exactly  what  I  thought,"  Crawshay  mut- 
tered. "  That's  the  game,  without  a  doubt.  What 
are  you?     An  Englishman?" 

"  I  am  not !  "  was  the  almost  fierce  reply.  *'  Blast 
England !  " 

Crawshay  looked  into  the  black  eyes,  suddenly  lit 
with  an  ugly  fire,  and  nodded. 

"  I  understand,"  he  said.  "  Robins,  your  name, 
eh?  Any  relation  to  the  young  Sinn  Feiner  who  was 
shot  in  Dublin  a  few  months  ago?  " 

"  Brother." 

"  That  may  save  your  life  later  on,"  Crawshay 
observed  coolly.  "  Now  you  can  do  one  of  three 
things.  You  can  come  with  me  to  the  captain,  be 
put  in  irons  and  shot  as  soon  as  we  land  —  or  be- 
fore, if  the  Blucher  finds  us ;  or  you  can  send  the 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       gi 

message  which  I  shall  give  you ;  or  you  can  end  your 
days  where  you  sit." 

"What  message?"  the  young  man  demanded. 

"  You  will  send  out  a  general  call,  as  before,  re- 
peating the  latitude  and  longitude  with  a  difference 
of  exactly  three  points,  and  you  will  repeat  the  al- 
tered course,  only  you  will  substitute  the  word 
'  south  '  for  the  word  '  north.'  " 

The  young  man's  eyes  suddenly  gleamed  as  he 
turned  towards  the  instrument,  but  Crawshay  smiled 
with  grim  understanding. 

"  Let  me  tell  you  that  I  understand  the  wireless," 
he  said  impressively.  "  You  will  give  the  message 
exactly  as  I  have  told  you  or  we  finish  things  up 
on  the  spot.  I  think  you  had  better.  It's  a  matter 
of  compulsion,  you  know  —  in  fact  I'll  explain  mat- 
ters to  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,  if  you  like." 

The  young  man's  eyes  were  round  with  amaze- 
ment. 

"  Jocelyn  Thew  !  "  he  repeated. 

"  Precisely.  You  needn't  look  so  terrified.  It 
isn't  you  who  have  given  away.  Now  what  are  you 
going  to  do.''  " 

The  young  man  swung  round  to  his  instrument. 
Crawshay  released  his  hand,  stepping  a  little  back. 

"  You  are  going  to  send  the  message,  then?  " 

"  Yes  !  "  was  the  sullen  reply. 

"  Capitajl !  "  Crawshay  exclaimed,  cautiously  sub- 
siding into  a  chair.  "  Now  you'll  go  on  every  teu 
minutes  until  I  tell  you  to  stop." 

Robins  bent  over  his  task,  and  again  the  crackling 
waves  broke  away  from  their  prison.  Once  his  finger 
hesitated.     He  glanced  surreptitiously  at  Crawshay. 


92       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Four  degrees  south,"  Crawshay  repeated  softly. 

The  night  wore  on.  Every  ten  minutes  the  mes- 
sage was  sent.  Then  there  followed  a  brief  silence, 
spent  generally  by  Robins  with  his  head  drooped  upon 
his  clasped  arms ;  by  Crawshay  in  unceasing  vigil. 
Just  as  the  first  faint  gleam  of  daylight  stole  into 
the  little  turret  chamber,  came  the  long-waited-for 
reply.  The  young  man  wrote  down  the  few  lines 
and  passed  them  over.  Crawshay,  who  had  risen  to 
his  feet,  glanced  at  them,  nodded,  and  thrust  the 
paper  into  his  pocket. 

"  That  seems  quite  satisfactory,"  he  said  coldly. 
*'  Now  ask  the  Blucher  her  exact  course.'*  " 

Robins  sat  for  a  moment  motionless.  He  felt 
Crawshay's  presence  towering  over  him,  felt  again  the 
spell  of  his  softly-spoken  command. 

"  Don't  waste  any  time,  please.     Do  as  I  tell  you." 

Robins  obeyed.  In  less  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour 
he  handed  over  another  slip  of  paper.  Crawshay 
thrust  it  into  his  pocket. 

"  That  concludes  our  business,"  he  said.  "  Now 
let  me  see  if  I  remember  enough  of  this  apparatus  to 
put  it  out  of  action." 

He  bent  over  the  instrument,  removed  some  plugs, 
turned  some  screws,  and  finally  placed  in  his  pocket 
a  small  concealed  part  of  the  mechanism.  Then  he 
turned  towards  Robins. 

"  You  can  leave  here  now,"  he  directed.  "  I  shall 
lock  the  place  up." 

Robins  had  in  some  measure  recovered  himself. 
He  was  a  quiet,  hollow-eyed  young  person,  with  thick 
black  hair  and  a  thin  frame,  about  which  the  uniform 
of  the  ship  hung  loosely. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       93 

"  You  are  the  man  who  boarded  the  steamer  from  a 
seaplane,  aren't  you,  and  pretended  afterwards  to 
be  such  a  ninny  ?  " 

"  I  am,"  Crawshay  acknowledged. 

"  How  did  you  get  on  to  this  ?  " 

Crawshay  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"  Sorry,"  he  replied,  "  that  is  a  matter  concerning 
which  I  fear  that  you  will  have  to  restrain  your 
curiosity." 

"  How  did  you  get  in  here.''  " 

"  By  means  of  a  duplicate  key  which  I  obtained 
from  the  purser.  I  hid  in  your  bunk  there  and  drew 
the  curtains.  Quite  a  comfortable  mattress,  yours. 
You'll  have  to  change  your  sleeping  quarters, 
though." 

"  What  is  going  to  happen  to  me.^* "  the  young 
man  enquired. 

*'  Probably  nothing  extreme.  You  were  philo- 
sophical enough  to  accept  the  situation.  If,"  Craw- 
shay went  on  more  slowly,  "  you  had  falsified  a  single 
word  of  those  messages,  your  end  would  have  been 
somewhat  abrupt  and  your  destination  according  to 
your  past  life.  As  it  is,  you  can  go  where  you  choose 
now  and  report  to  the  captain  later  on  in  the  morn- 
ing, after  I  have  had  a  talk  with  him." 

"  My  kit  is  all  in  here." 

Crawshay  laid  his  hand  upon  the  operator's  shoul- 
der in  peremptory  fashion. 

"  Then  you  will  have  to  do  without  it  for  the  pres- 
ent," he  replied  coolly.     "  Outside." 

The  young  man  turned  on  his  heel  and  disappeared 
without  a  word.  Crawshay  glanced  once  more  at 
the  dismantled  instrument,  then  followed  Robins  on 


94       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

to  the  deck,  carefully  locking  the  door  behind  him. 
A  grey,  stormy  morning  was  just  breaking,  with 
piles  of  angry  clouds  creeping  up,  and  showers  of 
spray  breaking  over  the  ship  on  the  weather  side. 
He  chose  a  sheltered  spot  and  stood  for  a  few  mo- 
ments breathing  in  the  strong  salt  air.  Notwith- 
standing his  success,  he  was  unaccountably  depressed. 
As  far  as  he  could  see  across  the  grey  waste  of  wa- 
ters, there  was  no  sign  of  any  passing  ship,  but  the 
eastern  horizon  was  blurred  by  a  low-hanging  bank 
of  sinister-looking  clouds.  Suddenly  a  voice  rang 
out,  hailing  him.  It  was  the  captain  descending 
from  the  bridge. 

"  Come  and  have  a  cup  of  coffee  with  me  in  my 
room,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  invited. 

Crawshay  felt  himself  suddenly  back  again  in  the 
world  of  real  happenings.  His  depression  passed 
as  though  by  magic.  After  all,  he  had  won  the 
first  trick,  and  the  next  move  was  already  forming 
up  in  his  mind. 


CHAPTER  X 

The  captain  sank  into  his  easy-chair  a  little  wear- 
ily. It  had  been  a  long  and  rather  trying  vigil. 
His  steward  filled  two  cups  with  coffee  and  at  a  sign 
from  his  master  withdrew. 

"  Any  news  ?  " 

"  I  have  been  compelled,"  Crawshay  announced, 
stirring  his  coffee,  "  to  dismantle  your  wireless." 

"  The  devil  you  have !  " 

"  Also,  to  speak  words  of  wisdom  to  young  Rob- 
ins. I  detected  him  signalling  our  location  to  the 
Blucher." 

The  captain  set  down  his  coffee  cup. 

"  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  said,  "  this  is  a  very  serious 
accusation." 

"  It  isn't  an  accusation  at  all  —  it's  a  fact,"  Craw- 
shay replied.  "  Luckily,  he  hadn't  picked  her  up 
when  I  got  there.  He  signalled  our  exact  location 
and  our  course  a  dozen  times  or  more,  without  re- 
sponse.    Then  I  took  a  hand  in  the  game." 

"  Exactly  what  happened?  "  the  captain  enquired. 

"  Well,  I  borrowed  a  key  from  Mr.  Dix,  and  whilst 
the  young  man  was  down  at  his  supper  I  concealed 
myself  in  his  bunk.  I  listened  to  him  for  a  short 
time,  and  then  I  intervened." 

"  Did  he  make  any  trouble?  " 

"  He  had  no  chance,"  Crawshay  explained,  a  little 
grimly.     "  I  was  first  off  the  mark.     On  this  piece 


96   THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

of  paper,"  he  added,  smoothing  it  out,  "  you  will 
find  Robins'  calculations  as  to  our  whereabouts, 
which  I  took  as  being  correct.  These,  you  under- 
stand, were  not  picked  up.  Lower  down  you  will 
see  the  message  which  he  sent  under  my  superintend- 
ence later  on  — " 

"Superintendence?"  the  captain  interrupted. 

"  At  the  point  of  my  revolver,"  Crawshay  ex- 
plained. "  This  message  was  picked  up  by  the 
Blucher." 

The  captain  scanned  the  calculations  eagerly. 

"  Wish  you'd  given  us  a  little  more  room,"  he 
muttered.  "  However,  it  will  be  all  right  unless  we 
get  fog.     We  might  blunder  into  one  another  then." 

"  This  little  incident,"  Crawshay  continued,  cross- 
ing his  legs,  "  confirms  certain  impressions  with  which 
I  came  on  board.  I  think  that  the  scheme  was  to 
get  the  documents  on  board  this  steamer,  and  then, 
in  order  to  avoid  the  inevitable  search  at  Liverpool, 
I  fancy  it  was  arranged  that  the  Blucher  should  be 
on  the  lookout  for  us  and  take  over  the  messenger, 
whoever  he  may  be,  and  the  documents.  It's  a 
straightforward,  simple  little  scheme,  which  we  have 
now  to  look  at  from  our  own  point  of  view.  In  the 
first  place,  the  Blucher  is  now  very  much  less  likely  to 
capture  us.  In  the  second  place,  I  would  suggest 
I  hat  in  case  the  Blucher  should  happen  to  blunder 
across  us,  we  make  the  search  at  once  instead  of  in 
Liverpool." 

"  What,  search  every  one  on  board  .^  "  the  captain 
asked. 

"  Suspected  persons  only." 

"  Exactly  who  are  they.?  " 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       97 

"  First  and  foremost,  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew." 

"  And  afterwards?  " 

Crawshay  hesitated. 

"  Mr.  Phillips  and  his  entourage." 

"  What,  the  man  who  is  supposed  to  be  dying?  " 

"  I  will  admit,"  Crawshay  said,  "  that  this  is  more 
or  less  guesswork,  but  I  suspect  every  one  with  whom 
Jocelyn  speaks." 

"  Great  heavens,  you  are  not  thinking  of  Miss 
Beverley !  "  the  captain  exclaimed. 

"  I  fail  utterly  to  understand  her  acquaintance 
with  Jocelyn  Thew,"  Crawshay  confided.  "  I  do  not 
propose,  however,  that  you  interfere  with  these  peo- 
ple for  the  moment.  What  I  do  ask  is  that  Jocelyn 
Thew's  effects  are  searched,  and  at  once." 

"  It's  a  thing  that's  never  happened  before  on  any 
steamer  I've  commanded,"  the  captain  said  reluc- 
tantly, "  but  if  it  has  to  be  done,  I  will  do  it  myself." 

"What  chance  of  fog  is  there?"  his  companion 
enquired. 

,    "  We  shall  get  some  within  twenty-four  hours,  for 
certain.      It's  coming  up  from  the  west  now," 

"  Then  the  sooner  you  make  a  start  with  Mr.  Joce- 
lyn Thew,  the  better,"  Crawshay  suggested.  "  I 
don't  think  there's  one  chance  in  a  hundred  that 
he'd  have  those  documents  in  any  place  where  we 
should  be  likely  to  find  them  by  any  ordinary  search, 
but  you  can  never  tell.  The  cleverest  men  often 
adopt  the  most  obvious  methods." 
The  captain  yawned. 

"  I'll  have  two  hours'  sleep,"  he  decided,  "  then 
Dix  and  I  will  tackle  the  job.  I  don't  suppose  you 
want  to  be  in  it?  " 


98       THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  should  prefer  not,"  Crawshay  replied.  "  I'll 
follow  your  example,"  he  added,  rising  to  his  feet. 

The  habits  of  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  on  shore  were 
doubtless  most  regular,  but  on  board  ship  he  had 
developed  a  prochvity  for  sleeping  until  long  after 
the  first  breakfast  gong.  About  half-past  eight  that 
morning,  he  was  awakened  from  a  sound  sleep  by  a 
tap  on  his  door,  and  instead  of  the  steward  with  his 
hot  water,  no  less  a  person  entered  than  the  cap- 
tain, followed  by  the  purser.  Jocelyn  sat  up  in  his 
bunk  and  rubbed  his  eyes. 

"  Good  morning,  gentlemen,"  he  said.  "  Any- 
thing wrong?  " 

The  captain  undid  the  catch  of  the  door  and  closed 
it  behind  him. 

"  Are  you  sufficiently  awake  to  listen  to  a  few 
words  from  me  on  a  subject  of  importance,  Mr. 
Thew.?  "  he  asked. 

"  Certainly,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 

"  Very  well,  then,"  the  captain  proceeded,  "  I 
shall  commence  by  taking  you  into  my  confidence. 
There  is  an  impression  on  the  part  of  the  British 
and  American  Secret  Services  that  an  attempt  is  be- 
ing made  to  convey  documents  of  great  importance, 
and  containing  treasonable  matter,  to  Europe  by 
some  one  on  board  this  ship." 

Jocelyn  Thew,  who  was  attired  in  silk  pyjamas  of 
very  excellent  quality,  swung  himself  out  of  the 
bunk  and  sat  upon  the  side  of  it.  The  captain  was 
an  observan];  man  and  of  somewhat  luxuriant  tastes 
himself,  and  he  fully  appreciated  the  texture  and 
quality  of  the  suspected  man's  night  apparel. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS       99 

"  This  sounds  remarkably  interesting,"  Jocelyn 
said.  "  Very  kind  of  you,  Captain,  I  am  sure,  to 
come  and  tell  me  about  it." 

"  My  visit,"  the  captain  continued,  a  little  drily, 
"had  a  more  definite  object.  It  is  my  duty  to  ex- 
plain to  you  that  the  circumstances  of  this  voyage 
are  unprecedented.  We  are  going  to  take  liberties 
Avith  our  passengers  which  in  normal  times  would  not 
be  dreamed  of." 

Jocelyn  Thew  pushed  the  knob  with  his  left  hand 
and  let  some  cold  water  run  into  his  basin.  Then 
he  dabbed  his  eyes  for  several  moments  with  his 
fingers. 

"  Yes,  I  seem  to  be  awake,"  he  remarked.  "  Tell 
me  about  these  hberties,  Captain?  " 

"  To  begin  with,  I  am  going  to  search  your  state- 
room and  baggage  —  or  rather  they  are  going  to 
be  searched  under  my  supervision.  Your  trunk  from 
the  hold  has  already  been  brought  up  and  is  in  the 
gangway." 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  Jocelyn  said,  sitting,  as  Mr. 
Dix  expressed  it  afterwards,  like  a  tiger  about  to 
spring,  "  that  you've  been  listening  to  that  crazy 
loon,  Crawshay." 

"I  am  not  at  liberty,"  the  captain  rejoined,  "  to 
divulge  the  source  from  which  my  information  came. 
I  am  only  able  to  acquaint  you  with  my  intentions, 
and  to  trust  that  you  will  offer  no  obstruction." 

"  The  obstruction  which  I  could  offer  against  the 
captain  of  a  ship  and  his  crew  would  be  a  waste  of 
energy,"  Jocelyn  observed,  with  fine  sarcasm.  "  At 
the  same  time,  I  protest  most  bitterly  against  my 
thingrs  bein3;  touched.     Any  search  you  deemed  neces- 


100     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

sary  could  be  undertaken  at  Liverpool  by  the  Cus- 
toms officers  in  the  usual  way.  I  consider  that  this 
entrance  into  my  stateroom  on  the  high  seas,  and 
this  arbitrary  resolve  of  yours  to  acquaint  yourself 
with  the  nature  of  my  belongings  is  indefensible  and 
a  gross  insult." 

"  I  am  sorry  that  you  take  it  this  way,  Mr. 
Thew,"  the  captain  regretted.  "  Any  complaints 
you  feel  it  right  to  make  can  be  addressed  to  the 
company's  agents  in  Liverpool.  At  present  I  must 
proceed  with  what  I  conceive  to  be  my  duty.  Do 
you  care  to  hand  Mr.  Dix  your  ke^'s  ?  " 

"  I  will  see  Mr.  Dix  damned  first !  "  Jocelyn  as- 
sured him. 

The  captain  shrugged  his  shoulders,  called  to  the 
steward,  who  was  waiting  outside,  and  the  search 
commenced.  They  opened  drawers,  they  turned  up 
the  carpet.  They  invited  Jocelyn  Thew  to  sit  upon 
the  couch  whilst  they  ripped  open  the  bed,  and  they 
invited  him  to  return  to  the  bed  whilst  they  ripped 
up  the  couch.  His  personal  belongings,  his  dressing- 
case  and  his  steamer  trunk  were  gone  through  with 
painstaking  care.  His  trunk,  which  was  then 
dragged  in,  was  ransacked  from  top  to  bottom.  In 
due  course  the  search  was  concluded,  and  except 
that  his  wearing  apparel  seemed  chosen  with  extraor- 
dinary care  and  taste,  nothing  in  any  way  suspicious 
was  discovered.  The  captain  made  haste  to  acknowl- 
edge the  fact. 

"  Well,  Mr.  Thew,"  he  announced,  "  I  have  done 
my  duty  and  you  are  out  of  it  with  a  clean  sheet. 
Have  you  any  objection  to  answering  a  few  ques- 
tions ?  " 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     loi 

"Every  objection  in  the  world,"  Jocelyn  Thew 
replied. 

The  purser  ventured  to  intervene. 

"  Come,  Mr.  Thew,"  he  said,  "  you're  an  English- 
man, aren't  you?  " 

A  light  flashed  in  Thew's  eyes. 

"  I  shall  break  the  promise  I  made  to  the  captain 
just  now,"  he  declared,  "  and  answer  that  one  ques- 
tion, at  any  rate.     I  thank  God  I  am  not !  " 

Both  men  were  a  little  startled.  Jocelyn's  cold, 
clear  voice,  his  manner  and  bearing,  were  all  so  es- 
sentially Saxon.  The  captain,  however,  recovered 
himself  quickly. 

"  If  the  tone  of  your  voice  is  any  index  to  your 
feelings,  Mr.  Thew,"  he  said,  "  you  appear  to  have 
some  grudge  against  England.  In  that  case  you 
can  scarcely  wonder  at  the  suspicions  which  have 
attached  themselves  to  you." 

"  Suspicions ! "  Jocelyn  repeated  sarcastically. 
"  Well,  present  my  compliments  to  the  wonderful  ]\Ir. 
Crawshay !  I  presume  that  I  am  at  liberty  now  to 
take  my  bath  ?  " 

"  In  one  moment,  Mr.  Thew.  Even  though  you 
do  not  choose  to  answer  them,  there  are  certain  ques- 
tions I  intend  to  ask.  The  first  is,  are  you  prepared 
to  produce  the  Marconigram  which  you  received  last 
evening?  " 

"  How  do  you  know  that  I  received  one?  " 

"  The  fact  has  come  to  my  knowledge,"  the  cap^ 
tain  said  drily. 

"  You  had  better  ask  the  operator  about  it." 

"  The  operator  is  at  the  present  moment  under 
arrest,"  was  the  terse  reply. 


102     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

If  the  news  were  a  shock  to  Thew,  he  showed  it 
in  none  of  the  ordinary  ways.  His  face  seemed  to 
fall  for  a  moment  into  harder  lines.  His  mouth 
tightened  and  his  eyes  flashed. 

"  Under  arrest.''  "  he  repeated.  "  More  of  Craw- 
shay's  tomfoolery,  I  suppose.^  " 

"  More  of  Mr.  Crawshay's  tomfoolery,"  the  cap- 
tain acknowledged.  "  Robins  is  accused  of  having 
received  a  Marconigram  of  which  he  took  no  note, 
and  which  he  handed  to  a  passenger.  He  is  also  ac- 
cused of  attempting  to  communicate  with  an  enemy 
raider." 

A  peculiar  smile  parted  Jocelyn's  lips. 

"  You  seem  to  wish  to  make  this  steamer  of  yours 
the  mise-en-scene  of  a  dime  novel,  Captain,"  he  ob- 
served. "  I  accept  the  part  of  villain  with  resigna- 
tion —  but  I  should  like  to  have  my  bath." 

"  You  don't  propose  to  tell  mc,  then,"  his  ques- 
tioner persisted,  "  the  contents  of  tliat  message?  " 

"  I  have  no  recollection  of  having  received  one," 
Jocelyn  replied  coolly.  "  You  are  making  me  very 
late  for  breakfast." 

They  left  him  with  a  brusque  word  of  farewell,  to 
which  he  did  not  reply.  Jocelyn,  in  a  dark-green 
silk  dressing  gown,  with  a  huge  sponge  and  various 
silver-topped  bottles,  departed  for  the  bathroom. 
The  captain  and  the  purser  strolled  up  on  deck. 

"What  do  you  make  of  that  fellow,  Dix.?  "  the 
former  asked. 

The  purser  coughed. 

"  If  you  ask  me,  sir,"  he  replied,  "  I  think  that  Mr. 
Crawshay  has  got  hold  of  the  wrong  end  of  the 
stick." 


CHAPTER  XI 

Katharine  came  on  deck  that  morning  in  a  some- 
what disturbed  frame  of  mind.  It  was  beginning  to 
dawn  upon  her  that  her  position  as  sick  nurse  to 
Mr.  Phillips  was  meant  to  be  a  sinecure.  She  was 
allowed  to  sit  by  the  sick  man's  side  sometimes  whilst 
the  doctor  took  a  promenade  or  ate  a  meal  in  the 
saloon,  but  apart  from  that,  the  usual  exercise  of 
her  duties  was  not  required  from  her.  She  was 
forced  to  admit  that  there  was  something  mysterious 
about  the  little  stateroom,  the  suffering  man,  and  the 
doctor  who  watched  him  speechlessly  niglit  and  dav. 
She  was  conscious  presently  that  Crawshay,  who 
had  been  walking  up  and  down  the  deck,  had  stopped 
before  the  chair  on  which  she  lay  extended.  She 
greeted  him  without  enthusiasm. 

"  Are  you  taking  one  of  your  health  constitution- 
als, Mr.  Crawshay?  "  she  enquired. 

"  Not  altogether,"  he  replied.  "  May  I  sit  down 
for  a  moment?  " 

"  Of  course !  I  don't  think  any  one  sits  in  that 
chair." 

He  took  his  place  by  her  side,  deliberately  removed 
lu's  muffler  and  unfastened  his  overcoat.  It  struck 
her,  from  the  first  moment  she  heard  his  voice,  that 
his  manner  was  somehow  altered.  She  was  alto- 
"""her  unprepared,  however,  for  the  almost  stern  di- 
^"^rtness  of  his  first  question. 


104     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Miss  Beverley,"  he  began,  "  will  you  allow  me 
to  ask  you  how  long  you  have  known  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew?" 

She  turned  her  head  towards  him  and  remained 
speechless  for  a  moment.  It  seemed  to  her  that  she 
was  looking  into  the  face  of  a  stranger.  The  little 
droop  of  the  mouth  had  gone.  The  half-vacuous, 
half-bored  expression  had  given  place  to  something 
altogether  new.  The  lines  of  his  face  had  all  tight- 
ened up,  his  eyes  were  hard  and  bright.  She  found 
herself  quite  unable  to  answer  him  in  the  manner  she 
had  intended. 

"  Are  you  asking  me  that  question  seriously,  Mr. 
Crawshay?  " 

"  I  am,"  he  assured  her.  "  I  have  grave  reasons 
for  asking  it." 

"  I  am  afraid  that  I  do  not  understand  you,"  she 
replied  stiffly. 

"  You  must  change  your  attitude,  if  you  please, 
Miss  Beverley,"  Crawshay  persisted.  "  Believe  me, 
I  am  not  trying  to  be  impertinent.  I  am  asking  a 
question  the  necessity  for  which  I  am  in  a  position 
to  justify." 

"  You  bewilder  mc  !  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  That  is  simply  because  you  looked  upon  me  as 
a  different  sort  of  person.  To  tell  you  the  truth, 
I  should  very  much  have  preferred  that  you  con- 
tinued to  look  upon  me  as  a  different  sort  of  person 
during  this  voyage,  but  I  cannot  see  my  way  clear 
to  keep  silence  on  this  one  point.  I  wish  to  inform 
you,  if  you  do  not  know  it  already,  that  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew  is  a  dangerous  person  for  you  to  know,  or  for 
you  to  be  associated  with  in  any  shape  or  form." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      105 

She  would  have  risen  to  her  feet  but  he  stopped 
her. 

"  Please  look  at  me,"  he  begged. 

She  obeyed,  half  against  her  will. 

"  I  want  YOU  to  ask  yourself,"  he  went  on, 
"whether  you  do  not  believe  that  I  am  your  well- 
wisher.  What  I  am  saying  to  you,  I  am  saying  to 
save  you  from  a  position  which  later  on  you  might 
bitterly  regret," 

She  was  conscious  of  a  quality  in  his  tone  and 
manner  entirely  strange  to  her,  and  she  found  any 
form  of  answer  exceedingly  difficult.  The  anger 
which  she  would  have  preferred  to  have  affected 
seemed,  in  the  face  of  his  earnestness,  out  of  place. 

"  It  seems  to  me,"  she  said,  "  that  you  are  assum- 
ing something  which  does  not  exist.  I  am  not  on 
specially  intimate  terms  with  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew.  I 
have  not  talked  to  him  any  more  than  to  any  other 
casual  passengrer." 

"  Is  that  quite  honest?  "  he  asked  quietly.  "  Isn't 
i*^  trne  that  Jocelvn  Thew  is  interested  in  your  mys- 
terious patient?  " 

She  started. 

"  "V^Tiat  do  you  mean?  " 

"  Just  what  I  say,"  he  replied.  "  I  happen  also 
to  have  verv  crrave  suspicions  concerning  the  pres- 
ence on  this  ship  of  Mr.  Philh'ps  and  his  doctor." 

Her  fingers  g-ripped  the  side  of  her  deck  chair. 
She  leaned  a  little  towards  him. 

"What  concern  is  all  this  of  yours?"  she  de- 
manded. 

"  Never  mind,"  he  answered.  "  I  am  risking  more 
than  I  should  like  to  sav  in  telling  vou  as  much  as  I 


io5     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

have  told  you.  I  cannot  believe  that  you  would 
consciously  associate  yourself  with  a  disgraceful  and 
unpatriotic  conspiracy.  That  is  why  I  have  chosen 
to  risk  a  great  deal  in  speaking  to  you  in  this  way. 
Tell  me  what  possible  consideration  was  brought  to 
bear  upon  you  to  induce  you  to  accept  your  pres- 
ent situation?  " 

Katharine  sat  quite  still.  The  thoughts  were 
chasing  one  another  through  her  brain.  Then  she 
was  conscious  of  a  strange  thing.  Her  companion's 
whole  expression  seemed  suddenly  to  have  changed. 
Without  her  noticing  any  movement,  his  monocle  was 
in  his  left  eye,  his  lip  had  fallen  a  little.  He  was 
looking  querulously  out  seaward. 

"  I  don't  believe,"  he  declared,  "  that  the  captain 
has  any  idea  about  the  weather  prospects.  Look  at 
those  clouds  coming  up.  I  don't  know  how  you 
are  feeling.  Miss  Beverley,  but  I  am  conscious  of  a 
distinct  chill." 

Jocelyn  Thew  had  come  to  a  standstill  before 
them.  He  was  wearing  no  overcoat  and  was  bare- 
headed. 

"  I  guess  that  chill  is  somewhere  in  your  imagina- 
tion, Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  observed.  "  You  are  pretty 
strong  in  that  line,  aren't  you?  " 

Crawshay  struggled  to  his  feet. 

"  I  have  some  ideas,"  he  confessed  modestly.  "  I 
spend  my  idle  moments,  even  here,  weaving  a  little 
fiction." 

"  And  recounting  it,  I  dare  say,"  Jocelyn  ven- 
tured. 

"  I  am  like  all  artists,"  Crawshay  sighed.  "  I 
love  an  audience.     I  must  express  myself  to  some- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     107 

thing.  I  will  wish  you  good  evening,  Miss  Beverley. 
I  feel  inclined  to  take  a  little  walk,  in  case  it  becomes 
too  rough  later  on." 

He  shuffled  away,  once  more  the  perfect  proto- 
type of  the  malade  imaginaire.  Jocelyn  Thew 
watched  him  in  silence  until  he  had  disappeared. 
Then  he  turned  and  seated  himself  by  the  girl's 
side. 

"  I  find  myself,"  he  remarked  ruminatively,  "  still 
a  little  troubled  as  to  the  precise  amount  of  intelli- 
gence which  our  friend  Mr.  Crawshay  might  be  said 
to  possess.  I  wonder  if  I  might  ask,  without  your 
considering  it  a  liberty,  what  he  was  talking  to  you 
about.?" 

"  About  you,"  she  answered. 

"  Ah !  " 

"  Warning  me  against  you." 

"  Dear  me !     Aren't  you  terrified  ?  " 

"  I  am  not  terrified,"  she  replied,  "  but  I  think 
it  best  to  tell  you  that  he  also  has  suspicions,  absurd 
though  it  may  seem,  of  Phillips  and  the  doctor," 

"  Why  not  the  purser  and  captain,  while  he's  about 
it.'^  "  Jocelyn  said  coolly.  "  Every  one  on  this  boat 
seems  to  have  got  the  nerves.  They  searched  my 
stateroom  this  morning." 

"  Searched  your  stateroom.''  "  she  repeated.  "  Do 
you  mean  while  you  were  out.''  " 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  he  replied.  "  They  dragged 
me  up  at  half-past  eight  this  morning  —  the  captain, 
purser  and  a  steward  —  fetched  up  my  trunk  and 
searched  all  my  possessions." 

"  What  for.?  "  she  asked,  with  a  sudden  chill. 

He  smiled  at  her  reassuringly. 


io8     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Something  they  didn't  find !  Something,"  he 
added,  after  a  slight  pause,  "  which  they  never  will 
findl" 

Towards  midday,  Jocelyn  Thew  abandoned  a  game 
of  shuffleboard,  and,  leaning  against  the  side  of  the 
vessel,  gazed  steadily  up  at  the  wireless  operating 
room.  The  lightnings  had  been  playing  around  the 
mast  for  the  last  ten  minutes  without  effect.  He 
turned  towards  one  of  the  ship's  officers  who  was 
passing. 

"Anything  gone  wrong  with  the  wireless.'*"  he 
enquired. 

"  The  operator's  ill,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply. 
"  We've  onlj'  one  on  board,  as  it  happens,  so  we  are 
rather  in  a  mess." 

Jocelyn  strolled  away  aft,  considering  the  situa- 
tion. He  found  Crawshay  seated  in  an  elaborate 
deck  chair  and  immersed  in  a  novel. 

"  I  hear  the  wireless  has  gone  wrong,"  he  remarked, 
stopping  in  front  of  him. 

Crawshay  glanced  up  blandly. 

"What's  that?"  he  demanded.  "Wireless? 
Why,  it's  been  going  all  the  morning." 

*'  There  has  been  no  one  tliere  to  take  the  mes- 
sages, though.  If  anything  happens  to  us,  we  shall 
be  in  a  nice  pickle." 

Crawshay  shivered. 

"  I  wish  you  people  wouldn't  suggest  such  things," 
he  said,  a  little  testily.  "I  was  just  trying  to  get 
all  thought  of  this  most  perilous  voyage  out  of  my 
mind,  with  the  help  of  a  novel  here.  From  which 
do  you  seriously  consider  we  have  most  to   fear," 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     109 

he  went  on,  "  mines,  submarines,  or  predatory  vessels 
of  the  type  of  the  Blucher?  " 

"  The  latter,  I  should  think,"  Jocelyn  replied. 
"  They  say  that  submarines  are  scarcely  venturing 
so  far  out  just  now." 

There  was  a  brief  silence.  Jocelyn  Thew  was  aj>- 
parently  engaged  in  trying  to  fit  a  cigarette  into  his 
holder. 

"  Specially  hard  luck  on  you,"  he  remarked  pres- 
ently, "  if  anything  happened  when  you've  taken  so 
much  trouble  to  get  on  board." 

"  It  would  be  exceedingly  annoying,"  Crawshay 
declared,  with  vigour,  "  added  to  which  I  am  not  in 
a  state  of  health  to  endure  a  voyage  in  a  small  boat. 
I  have  been  this  morning  to  look  at  our  places,  in 
case  of  accident.  I  find  that  I  am  expected  to  wield 
an  oar  long  enough  to  break  my  back." 

Jocelyn  Thew  smiled.  The  other  man's  peevish- 
ness seemed  too  natural  to  be  assumed. 

"  I  expect  you'll  be  glad  enough  to  do  your  bit, 
if  anything  does  happen  to  us,"  he  observed. 

"  By-the-by,"  Crawshay  asked,  "  I  wonder  what 
will  become  of  that  poor  fellow  downstairs  —  the 
man  who  is  supposed  to  be  dying,  I  mean  —  if  trou- 
ble comes.''  " 

"  I  heard  them  discussing  it  at  breakfast  time," 
Jocelyn  Thew  replied.  "  I  understand  that  he  has 
asked  specially  to  be  allowed  to  remain  where  he  is. 
There  would  of  course  be  not  the  slightest  chance 
of  saving  his  life.  The  doctor  who  is  with  him  — 
Gant,  I  think  his  name  is  —  told  us  that  anything  in 
the  shape  of  a  rough  sea,  even,  would  mean  the  end 
of  him.     He  quite  understands  this  himself." 


no  THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Crawshay  assented  gravely. 

"  It  seems  a  little  brutal  but  it  is  common  sense," 
he  declared.  "  In  times  of  great  stress,  too,  one 
becomes  primitive,  and  the  primitive  instinct  is  for 
the  strong  to  save  himself.  I  am  not  ashamed  to 
confess,"  he  concluded,  "  that  I  have  secured  an 
extra  lifebelt." 

Jocelyn  glanced  for  a  moment  scornfully  down 
at  the  man  who  had  now  picked  up  his  novel  again 
and  was  busy  reading.  Crawshay  represented  so 
much  the  things  that  he  despised  in  life.  It  was  im- 
possible to  treat  or  consider  him  in  any  way  as  a 
rival  to  be  feared.  He  passed  down  the  deck  and 
made  his  way  below  to  the  doctor's  room.  He  found 
the  latter  in  the  act  of  starting  off  to  see  a  pa- 
tient. 

"  I  can  c  around  to  ask  after  Robins,  the  young 
Marconi  man,"  Jocelyn  explained.  "  I  hear  that 
he  was  taken  ill  last  night." 

The  doctor  looked  at  his  questioner  keenly. 

"  That  is  so,"  he  admitted. 

"  What's  wrong  with  him.''  '* 

"  I  have  not  thoroughly  diagnosed  his  complaint 
as  yet,"  was  the  careful  reply.  "  I  can  tell  you  for 
a  certainty,  though,  that  he  will  not  be  able  to  work 
for  two  or  three  days." 

"  It  seems  very  sudden,"  Jocelyn  Thew  persisted. 
*'  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  had  some  slight  acquaintance 
with  him,  and  I  always  thought  that  he  was  a  re- 
markably strong  young  fellow." 

The  doctor,  who  had  completed  his  preparations 
for  departure,  picked  up  his  cap  and  politely  showed 
his  visitor  out. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     iii 

"  You  wouldn't  care,"  the  latter  suggested,  "  to 
let  me  go  down  and  have  a  look  at  hhn?  I  can't 
call  myself  a  medical  man,  but  I  know  something 
about  sickness  and  I  am  quite  interested  in  young 
Robins." 

"•  I  don't  think  that  I  shall  need  a  second  opinion 
at  present,  thank  you,"  the  doctor  rejoined,  a  little 
drily.  "  If  you  wish  to  see  him  later  on,  you  must 
get  permission  from  the  captain.  Good  morning, 
Mr.  Thew." 

Jocelyn  Thew  strolled  thoughtfully  away,  found 
a  retired  spot  upon  the  promenade  deck  behind  a 
boat,  lit  a  very  black  cigar,  and,  drawing  his  field- 
glasses  from  his  pocket,  searched  the  horizon  care- 
fully. There  was  no  sign  of  any  passing  steamer, 
not  even  the  faintest  wisp  of  black  smoke  anywhere 
upon  the  horizon.  It  was  Wednesday  to-day,  and 
they  had  left  New  York  on  Saturday.  He  drew  a 
sheet  of  paper  from  his  pocket  and  made  a  few  cal- 
culations. It  was  the  day  and  past  the  time  upon 
which  things  were  due  to  happen.  .  .  . 

The  day  wore  on  very  much  as  most  days  do  on 
an  Atlantic  voyage  in  early  summer.  The  little 
handful  of  passengers,  who  seemed  for  the  moment 
to  have  cast  all  anxieties  to  the  winds,  played  shuffle- 
board  and  quoits,  lunched  with  vigorous  appetites, 
drank  tea  out  on  deck,  and  indulged  in  strenuous 
before-dinner  promenades.  The  sun  shone  all  day, 
the  sea  remained  wonderfully  calm.  Not  a  trace  of 
any  other  steamer  was  visible  from  morning  until 
early  nightfall,  and  Jocelyn  Thew  walked  restlessly 
about  with  a  grim  look  upon  his  face.  At  dinner 
time  the  captain  hinted  at  fog,  and  looked  doubt- 


112     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

fully  out  of  the  open  porthole  at  the  oily-looking 
waste  of  waters. 

"  Another  night  on  the  bridge  for  me,  I  think,'*  he 
remarked. 

Jocelyn  Thew  leaned  forward  in  his  place. 

"  By-the-by,  Captain,"  he  asked,  "  now  that  the 
shipping  is  so  reduced,  do  you  alter  speed  for  fog.''  " 

The  captain  filled  his  glass  from  the  jug  of  lemon- 
ade which  was  always  before  him. 

"Do  we  alter  our  speed,  eh?"  he  repeated. 
*'  You  must  remember,"  he  went  on,  "  that  we  have 
Miss  Beverley  on  board.  We  couldn't  afford  to 
give  Miss  Beverley  a  fright." 

Jocelyn  accepted  the  evasion  with  a  slight  bow. 
Katharine,  who  had  come  in  to  dine  a  little  late  and 
seemed  graver  than  usual,  smiled  at  the  captain. 

"  Am  I  the  most  precious  thing  on  this  steamer.''  " 
she  asked. 

"  Gallantry,"  the  captain  replied,  "  compels  me 
to  say  yes ! " 

"Only  gallantry.'*  Have  we  such  a  wonderful 
cargo,  then  ?  " 

"  There  are  times,"  was  the  cautious  reply,  "  when 
not  even  the  captain  knows  exactly  what  he  is 
carrying." 

"  You  remind  me,"  Jocelyn  Thew  observed,  "  of 
a  voyage  I  once  made  from  Port  Elizabeth  to  New 
York,  with  half-a-dozen  I.D.B's  on  board,  and  as 
many  detectives,  watching  them  day  and  night." 

The  captain  nodded. 

"  WTiat  happened?  "  he  enquired. 

"  Oh,  the  detectives  arrested  the  lot  of  them,  I 
think, —  got  hold  of  them  on  the  last  day." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     113 

The  captain  rose  from  his  place. 

"  Queer  thing,"  he  remarked,  "  but  the  law  gen- 
erally does  come  out  on  top." 

Jocclyn  followed  his  example  a  few  minutes  later, 
and  Katharine  purposely  joined  him  on  the  way  out. 
She  led  her  companion  to  the  corner  where  her 
steamer  chair  had  been  placed,  and  motioned  him  to 
sit  by  her  side.  They  were  on  the  weather  side 
of  the  ship,  with  a  slight  breeze  in  their  faces  and  a 
canopy  over  their  heads  which  deadened  sound. 
She  leaned  a  little  forward. 

"  Smoke,  please,"  she  begged,  "  I  mean  it  ■ — 
see." 

She  lit  a  cigarette  and  he  followed  suit. 

"  Not  a  cigar?  " 

He  shook  his  head. 

"  I  keep  them  for  my  hard  thinking  times." 

"  Then  you  were  thinking  very  hard  this  mom- 
in?" 

"  I  was,"  he  admitted. 

"  And  gazing  very  earnestly  out  of  those  field- 
glasses  of  yours." 

"Quite  true." 

"  Mr.  Thcw,"  she  said  abruptly,  "  it  is  my  impres- 
sion, although  for  some  reason  or  other  I  am  scarcely 
allowed  to  go  near  him,  that  Mr.  Phillips  is  dying." 

"  One  knew,  of  course,  that  there  was  that  risk," 
Jocelyn  Thew  reminded  her. 

"  I  do  not  think  that  he  can  possibly  live  for 
twenty-four  hours,"  she  continued.  *'  I  was  allowed 
to  sit  with  him  for  a  short  time  early  this  morning. 
He  is  beginning  to  wander  in  his  mind,  to  speak  of 
his  wife  and  a  sum  of  money." 


114     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Joceljn's  fine  eyebrows  came  a  little  closer  to- 
gether. 

"WeU?" 

"  Nothing  in  his  appearance  or  speech  indicate  the 
man  of  wealth  or  even  of  birth.  I  begin  to  wonder 
whether  I  know  the  whole  truth  about  this  frantic 
desire  of  his  to  reach  England  before  he  dies?  " 

"  I  think,"  Jocelyn  Thew  said  thoughtfully,  "  that 
jou  have  been  talking  again  to  Mr.  Crawshay." 

"  Yes,"  she  admitted,  "  and  he  has  been  warning 
me  against  you." 

*'  I  suppose,"  Jocelyn  ruminated,  "  the  man  has  a 
certain  amount  of  puppy-dog  intelligence." 

"  I  do  not  understand  Mr.  Crawshay  at  all,"  she 
confessed.  "  My  acquaintance  with  him  before  we 
met  on  this  steamer  was  of  the  slightest,  but  his 
manner  of  coming  certainly  led  one  to  believe  that 
he  was  a  man  of  courage  and  determination.  Since 
then  he  has  crawled  about  in  an  overcoat  and  rubber 
shoes,  and  groaned  about  his  ailments  until  one  feels 
inclined  to  laugh  at  him.  Last  night  he  was  differ- 
ent again.  He  was  entirely  serious,  and  he  spoke 
to  me  about  you." 

"Do  you  need  to  be  warned  against  me?"  he 
asked  grimly.  "  Have  I  ever  sailed  under  false  col- 
ours ?  " 

"  Don't,"  she  begged,  looking  at  him  with  a  little 
quiver  of  tlie  lips  and  a  wonderfully  soft  light  in  her 
eyps.  *'  You  have  never  deceived  me  in  any  way 
except,  if  at  all,  as  regards  this  voyage.  I  made  up 
my  mind  this  evening  that  I  would  ask  you,  if  you 
cai'ed  to  tell  me,  to  take  me  into  your  confidence  about 
tliis  man  wlio  is  dying  down  below,  and  his  strange 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     115 

journey.  I  need  scarcely  add  that  I  should  respect 
that  confidence." 

"  I  am  sorry,"  he  answered.  "  You  ask  an  im- 
possibility." 

"  Then  there  is  some  sort  of  conspiracy  going  on?  " 
she  persisted.  "  Let  me  ask  you  a  straightforward 
question.  Is  it  not  true  that  you  have  made  me  an 
unknowing  participator  in  an  illegal  act?  " 

"  It  is,"  he  admitted.  "  I  was  very  sorry  to  have 
to  do  so  but  it  was  necessary.  Without  your  assist- 
ance, I  should  never  have  been  allowed  to  bring 
Phillips  across  the  Atlantic." 

"  What  difference  do  I  make?  "  she  asked. 

"  You  lend  an  air  of  respectability  and  credibility 
to  the  whole  thing,"  he  told  her.  "  You  are  a  person 
of  repute,  of  distinguished  social  position,  and  the 
object  of  a  good  deal  of  admiration  in  your  own 
country.  The  doctor  who  accompanies  you  comes 
from  your  own  hospital.  No  one  would  believe  it 
possible  that  either  of  you  could  be  concerned  in 
any  sort  of  conspiracy.  If  that  ass  Crawshay  had 
not  got  on  board,  I  am  convinced  that  there  would 
never  have  been  a  breath  of  suspicion." 

She  shivered  a  little. 

"Is  it  quite  kind  to  bring  me  into  an  affair  of 
this  sort?  "  she  asked. 

"  It  is  a  world,"  he  declared  cruelly,  "  in  which 
we  fight  always  for  our  own  hand  or  go  imder.  I 
am  fighting  for  mine,  and  if  I  have  occasionally  to 
sacrifice  a  friend  as  well  as  an  enemy,  I  do  not  hesi- 
tate." 

"  What  has  the  world  done  to  you,"  she  demanded, 
**  that  you  should  speak  so  bitterly?  " 


ii6     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Better  not  ask  me  that." 

"  How  will  the  man  Phillips'  death  affect  your 
plans?  '* 

"  It  will  make  very  little  difference  either  way," 
he  assured  her.     **  We  rather  expected  him  to  die." 

"  And  you  won't  take  me  any  further  into  your 
confidence.''  " 

"  No  further.  Your  task  will  be  completed  at 
Liverpool.  So  long  as  you  leave  this  steamer  in 
company  with  the  doctor  and  the  ambulance,  if 
.  hillips  is  still  alive,  you  will  be  free  to  return  home 
whenever  you  please." 

**  Very  well,"  she  said.  "  You  see,  I  accept  my 
position.  I  shall  go  through  with  what  I  have  prom- 
ised, whatever  Mr.  Crawshay  may  say.  Won't  you 
in  return  treat  me,  if  not  as  a  confederate,  as  a 
friend.?" 

He  turned  and  looked  at  her,  met  the  appealing 
glance  of  her  soft  eyes  for  a  moment  and  looked  sud- 
denW  away. 

"  I  do  not  belong  to  the  ranks  of  those,  Miss 
Beverley,  from  whom  it  is  well  for  you  to  choose  your 
friends." 

"  But  why  should  I  not  make  my  own  choice.''  " 
she  insisted.  "  I  have  always  been  my  own  mistress. 
I  have  lived  with  my  own  ideas,  I  have  declined  to 
be  subject  to  any  one's  authority.  I  am  an  inde- 
pendent person.     Can't  you  treat  me  as  such.''  " 

"  There  are  facts,"  he  said,  "  which  can  never  be 
ignored.  You  belong  to  the  world  of  wealthy,  gen- 
tly born  men  and  women  who  comprise  what  is  called 
Society.  I  belong,  and  have  belonged  all  my  life, 
to  a  race  of  outcasts." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     117 

*'  Don't !  "  she  begged. 

"  It  is  true,"  he  repeated  doggedly. 

"But  what  do  you  mean  by  outcasts?  " 

"  Criminals,  if  you  like  it  better.  I  have  broken 
the  law  more  than  once.  There  is  an  unexecuted 
warrant  out  against  me  at  the  present  moment. 
You  may  even  see  me  marched  off  this  steamer  at 
Liverpool  between  two  policemen." 

"But  why?"  she  asked  passionately.  "Why? 
What  is  the  motive  of  it  all?     Is  it  money?  " 

"  I  am  not  in  need  of  money,"  he  told  her,  "  but  I 
have  a  great  and  sacred  use  for  all  I  can  lay  my 
fingers  on.  If  I  succeed  in  my  present  enterprise, 
I  shall  receive  a  hundred  thousand  pounds." 

"  I  value  Jerry's  life  and  future  at  more  than 
that,"  she  declared.  "  Will  you  make  a  fresh  start, 
Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,  with  twice  that  sum  of  money  to 
your  credit?  " 

He  shook  his  head,  but  there  was  a  curious  change 
creeping  into  his  face.  For  the  first  time  she  saw 
how  soft  a  man's  dark-blue  eyes  may  sometimes  be- 
come. The  slight  trembling  of  his  parted  lips,  too, 
seemed  to  unlock  all  the  cruel,  hard  lines  of  his 
face.  He  had  suddenly  the  appearance  of  a  person 
of  temperament  —  a  poet,  even  a  dreamer." 

"  I  could  not  take  money  from  you.  Miss  Beverley," 
he  said,  "  or  from  any  other  woman  in  the  world." 

"Upon  no  conditions?"  she  whispered  softly. 

"  Upon  no  conditions,"  he  repeated. 

The  breeze  had  dropped,  and  twilight  had  followetj 
swiftly  upon  the  misty  sunset.  There  was  some-i 
thing  a  little  ghostly  about  the  light  in  which  they 
sat. 


ii8     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  am  stifled,"  she  declared  abruptly.  "  Come 
and  walk." 

The}'^  paced  up  and  down  the  deck  once  or  twice  in 
silence.  Then  he  paused  as  they  drew  near  their 
chairs. 

"  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  in  case  this  should  be 
the  last  time  that  we  talk  confidentially  —  so  that  we 
may  put  a  seal,  in  fact,  upon  the  subject  of  which 
we  have  spoken  to-night  —  I  would  like  to  tell  j'ou 
that  you  have  made  me  feel,  during  this  last  half- 
hour,  an  emotion  which  I  have  not  felt  for  many 
years.  And  I  want  to  tell  you  this.  I  am  a  law- 
breaker. When  I  told  you  that  there  was  a  warrant 
out  against  me  at  the  present  moment,  I  told  you 
the  truth.  The  charge  against  me  is  a  true  one, 
and  the  penalty  is  one  I  shall  never  pay.  I  must  go 
on  to  the  end,  and  I  shall  do  so  because  I  have  a 
driving  impulse  behind,  a  hate  which  only  action 
can  soothe.  But  all  my  sins  have  been  against  men 
and  the  doings  of  men.  You  will  understand  me, 
will  you  not,  when  I  say  that  I  can  neither  take  your 
money,  nor  accept  your  friendship  after  this  voyage 
is  over?  You,  on  your  side,  can  remember  that  you 
have  paid  a  debt." 

She  sank  a  little  wearily  into  her  chair  and  looked 
out  through  the  gathering  mists.  It  seemed  part  of 
her  fancy  that  they  gathered  him  in,  for  she  heard 
no  sound  of  retreating  footsteps.  Yet  when  she 
spoke  his  name,  a  few  moments  later,  she  found  that 
she  was  alone. 


CHAPTER  XII 

Throughout  the  night  reigned  an  almost  sepulchral 
silence,  and  when  the  morning  broke,  the  City  of 
.  Boston,  at  a  scarcely  reduced  speed,  was  ploughing 
her  way  through  great  banks  of  white  fog.  The 
decks,  the  promenade  rails,  every  exposed  part  of 
the  steamer,  were  glistening  with  wet.  Up  on  the 
bridge,  three  officers  besides  the  captain  stood  with 
eyes  fixed  in  grim  concentration  upon  the  dense  cur- 
tains of  mist  which  seemed  to  shut  them  off  altogether 
from  the  outer  world.  Jocelyn  Thew  and  Crawshay 
met  in  the  companionway,  a  few  minutes  after  break- 
fast. 

"  I  can  see  no  object  in  the  disuse  of  the  hooter," 
Crawshay  declared  querulously.  "  Nothing  at  sea 
could  be  worse  than  a  collision.  We  are  simply  tak- 
ing our  lives  in  our  hands,  tearing  along  like  this  at 
sixteen  knots  an  hour." 

"  Isn't  there  supposed  to  be  a  German  raider 
out.''  "  the  other  enquired. 

"  I  think  it  is  exceedingly  doubtful  whether  there 
is  really  one  in  the  Atlantic  at  all.  The  English 
gunboats  patrol  these  seas.  Besides,  we  are  armed 
ourselves,  and  she  wouldn't  be  likely  to  tackle  us." 

Jocelyn  Thew  had  leaned  a  little  forward.  He 
was  listening  intently.  At  the  same  time,  one  of  the 
figures  upon  the  bridge,  his  hand  to  his  ear,  turned 
in  the  same  direction. 

"  There's  some  one  who  doesn't  mind  letting  their 


120     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

whereabouts  be  known,"  he  whispered,  after  a  mo- 
ment's pause.     "Can't  jou  hear  a  hooter?" 

Crawshay  listened  but  shook  his  head. 

"  Can't  hear  a  thing,"  he  declared  laconically. 
"  I've  a  cold  in  my  head  coming  on,  and  it  always 
affects  my  hearing." 

Jocelyn  Thew  stepped  on  tiptoe  across  the  deck 
as  far  as  the  rail  and  returned  in  a  few  minutes. 

"  There's  a  steamer  calling,  away  on  the  star- 
board bow,"  he  announced.  "  She  seems  to  be  get- 
ting nearer,  too.  I  wonder  we  don't  alter  our 
course." 

"  Well,  I  suppose  it's  the  captain's  business 
whether  he  chooses  to  answer  or  not,"  Crawshay  re- 
marked. "  I  shall  go  down  to  my  cabin.  This  gaz- 
ing at  nothing  gets  on  my  nerves." 

Jocelyn  Thew  returned  to  his  damp  vigil.  Lean- 
ing over  the  wet  wooden  rail,  he  drew  a  little  diagram 
on  the  back  of  an  envelope  and  worked  out  some 
figures.  Then  he  listened  once  more,  the  slight  frown 
upon  his  forehead  deepening.  Finall}'  he  tore  up  his 
sketch  and  made  his  way  to  the  doctor's  room. 
The  doctor  was  seated  at  his  desk  and  glanced  up 
enquiringly  as  his  visitor  entered. 

"  I  just  looked  in  to  see  how  young  Robins  was 
getting  on,"  Jocelyn  explained. 

"  I  am  afraid  he  is  in  rather  a  bad  way,'*  was  the 
grave  reply. 

"  What  is  the  nature  of  his  illness?  " 

The  doctor  shrugged  his  shoulders.  His  manner 
became  a  little  vague. 

"  I  must  remind  you,  Mr.  Thew,"  he  said,  "  that  a 
doctor  is  not  always  at  liberty  to  discuss  the  ail- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     I2i 

ments  of  his  patients.  On  board  ship  this  custom 
becomes  more,  even,  than  mere  etiquette.  It  is,  in 
fact,  against  the  regulations  of  the  company  for  us 
to  discuss  the  maladies  of  any  passenger  upon  the 
steamer." 

"  I  recognise  the  truth  of  all  that  you  say,"  Joce- 
lyn  Thew  agreed,  "  but  it  happens  that  I  know  the 
young  man  and  his  people.  Naturally,  therefore,  I 
take  an  feiterest  in  him,  and  I  am  sure  they  would 
think  it  strange  if,  travelling  upon  the  same  steamer, 
I  did  not  make  these  very  ordinary  enquiries." 

"You  know  his  people,  do  you?  "  the  doctor  re- 
peated.    "Where  does  he  come  from,  Mr.  Thew?" 

"  Somewhere  over  New  Jersey  way,"  was  the  glib 
reply,  "  but  I  used  to  meet  his  father  often  in  New 
York.  There  can  be  no  mystery  about  his  illness, 
can  there,  doctor  —  no  reason  why  I  should  not  go 
and  see  him?  " 

"  I  have  placed  the  young  man  in  quarantine," 
was  the  brief  explanation,  "  and  until  he  is  released 
no  one  can  go  near  him." 

"  Something  catching,  eh?  " 

"  Something  that  might  turn  out  to  be  catching." 

Jocelyn  Thew  shrugged  his  shoulders  and  accepted 
what  amounted  almost  to  a  little  nod  of  dismissal. 
He  ascended  the  staircase  thoughtfully  and  came 
face  to  face  with  Katharine  Beverley,  issuing  from 
the  music  room.  She  greeted  him  with  a  little  ex- 
clamation of  relief. 

"  Mr.  Thew,"  she  exclaimed,  "  I  have  been  look- 
ing for  you  everywhere.  Doctor  Gant  thinks,"  she 
added,  lowering  her  voice,  "  that  if  you  wish  to  see 
his  patient  alive,  you  had  better  come  at  once." 


122     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  There  is  a  change  in  his  condition,  then?  " 

"  Yes,"  she  told  him  gravely. 

He  stood  for  a  moment  tliinking  rapidly.  The 
girl  shivered  a  little  as  she  watclied  the  change  in 
his  face.  Her  hospital  training  had  not  lessened 
her  awe  and  sympathy  in  the  face  of  death,  and  it 
was  so  entirely  ohvlous  that  Jnc^lvn  Thcw  was  con- 
sidering only  what  influence  upon  his  pl^.ns  this  event 
might  have.  Finally  he  turned  and  descended  the 
stairs  by  her  side. 

"  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  it  is  wise  of  me  to 
come,"  he  said.  "  However,  if  he  is  asking  for  me 
I  suppose  I  had  better." 

They  made  their  way  into  the  commodious  state- 
room upon  the  saloon  deck,  which  had  been  secured 
for  the  sick  man.  He  lay  upon  a  small  hospital  bed, 
nothing  of  him  visible  save  his  haggard  face,  with  its 
ill-i^rown  beard.  His  eves  were  watching  the  door, 
and  he  showed  some  signs  of  gratification  at  Joce- 
lyn's  entrance.  Gant.  who  was  standing  over  the 
bed,  turned  apologetically  towards  the  latter. 

"  It's  the  money,"  he  whispered.  "  He  is  worrv- 
ino-  about  that.  I  was  obliged  to  send  for  you.  He 
called  out  your  name  iust  now,  and  the  ship's  doctor 
was  hanging  around." 

The  newcomer  drc^w  a  stool  to  the  side  of  the  bed, 
opened  a  porketbook  and  counted  out  a  great  wad 
of  notes.  The  dving  m,on  wntrhod  him  with  every 
npno.nrance  of  intorr>«<-. 

"  Five  thousand  dollars."  the  former  said  at  last. 
"  TJiat  should  bring  in  about  eli>von  hundred  and 
pf*^'-  rounds.      Now  watch  me.  Phillips." 

"^^"  took  an  envelope  from  his  pocket,  thrust  the 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      123 

notes  inside,  gummed  down  the  flap,  and,  drawing 
a  fountain  pen  from  his  pocket,  wrote  an  address. 
The  dying  man  watched  him  and  nodded  feebly. 

"  These,"  Jocelyn  continued,  "  are  for  your  wife. 
The  packet  shall  be  delivered  to  her  within  twelve 
hours  of  our  landing  in  Liverpool.  You  can  keep 
't  under  your  pillow  and  hand  it  over  to  Miss  Bever- 
ley here.     You  trust  her?  " 

The  man  on  the  bed  nodded  feebly  and  turned 
slightly  towards  Katharine.     She  bent  over  him. 

"  I  shall  see  myself,"  she  promised,  "  that  the 
money  is  properly  delivered." 

Phillips  smiled  and  closed  his  eyes.  It  was  obvi- 
ous that  he  had  no  more  to  say.  Jocelyn  Thew  stole 
softly  out,  followed,  a  moment  later,  by  Katharine. 

"  The  doctor  thinks  I  am  better  away,"  she  whis- 
pered.    "  He  won't  speak  again.     Poor  fellow !  " 

Jocelyn  stepped  softly  up  the  stairs  and  drew  a 
little  breath  of  relief  as  they  reached  the  promenade 
deck  without  meeting  any  one.  Both  seemed  to  feel 
the  desire  for  fresh  air,  and  they  stepped  outside 
for  a  moment.     There  were  tears  in  Katharine's  eyes. 

"  Of  course,"  she  said,  a  little  timidly,  "  I  don't 
understand  this  at  all,  but  it  is  terribly  tragic.  Do 
3'ou  think  that  he  would  have  lived  if  he  had  not 
undertaken  the  journey?  " 

"  It  was  absolutely  impossible,"  her  companion 
assured  her.  "  He  was  a  dying  man  from  the  mo- 
ment the  operation  was  finished." 

"  Will  he  be  buried  at  sea?  " 

"  I  think  not.  He  was  exceedingly  anxious  to  be 
buried  at  his  home  near  Chester.  It  isn't  a  pleasant 
thing  to  talk  about,"  Jocelyn  went  on,  "  but  they 


124     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

brought  his  coffin  on  board  with  him.  It's  lying  in 
the  companionway  now,  covered  over  with  a  rug." 

She  shivered. 

"  It's  a  horrible  day  altogether,"  she  declared, 
looking  out  into  the  seemingly  endless  banks  of  mist. 

"  Entirely  my  opinion,  Miss  Beverley,"  a  voice  said 
in  her  ear.  *'  I  find  it  most  depressing  —  and  un- 
liealthy.      And  listen. —     Do  you  hear  that.?  " 

They  all  listened  intently.  Again  they  could  hear 
the  hooting  of  a  steamer  in  the  distance. 

"  Between  ourselves,"  Crawshay  went  on  confi- 
dentially, "  the  captain  seems  to  me  rather  worried. 
That  steamer  has  been  following  us  for  hours.  She 
is  evidently  waiting  for  the  fog  to  lift,  to  see  who 
"we  are." 

"  How  does  she  know  about  us?  "  Katharine  asked. 
"  We  haven't  blown  our  hooter  once." 

"  We  don't  need  to."  was  the  fractions  reply. 
"  That's  where  we  are  being  over-careful.  She  can 
hear  our  engines  distinctlv." 

"  Who  docs  the  captain  think  she  is,  then?  " 

Crawshay's  voice  was  dropped  to  a  mysterious 
pitch,  but  though  he  leaned  towards  the  girl,  his 
eyes  were  fixed  upon  her  companion. 

*'  He  doesn't  go  as  far  as  to  express  a  definite 
opinion,  but  he  thinks  that  it  might  be  that  German 
raider  —  the  Bhichrr,  isn't  it?  She  can  steal  about 
quite  safely  in  the  fog,  and  she  can  tell  by  the  boat 
of  the  engines  whether  she  is  near  a  man-of-war 
or  not." 

Not  a  muscle  of  Jocel  ,n's  face  twitched,  but  there 
was  a  momentary  crlo^ni  in  his  eyes  of  whicli  Craw- 
shay took  swift  note.     He  glanced  aft  to  where  the 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     125 

two  seamen  were  standing  by  the  side  of  their  guns. 

"  If  it  really  is  the  German  raider,"  he  remarked, 
"  they  might  as  well  fire  off  a  popgun  as  that  thing. 
She  is  supposed  to  be  armed  with  four  six-inch  guns 
and  two  torpedo  tubes." 

Crawshay  nodded. 

"  So  I  told  the  captain.  We  might  have  a  go 
at  a  submarine,  but  the  raider  would  sink  us  in  two 
minutes  if  we  tried  to  tackle  her.  What  a  beastly 
voyage  this  is !  "  he  went  on,  in  a  depressed  tone. 
"  I  can't  get  over  the  fact  that  I  risked  my  life  ta 
get  on  board,  too." 

Jocelyn  Thew,  with  a  little  word  of  excuse,  had 
swung  around  and  disappeared.  Katharine  looked 
at  her  companion  curiously. 

"  Do  you  believe  that  it  really  is  the  raider,  Mr. 
Crawshay?  "  she  enquired. 

He  hesitated.  In  Jocelyn's  absence  his  manner 
seemed  to  undergo  some  subtle  change,  his  tone  to 
become  crisper  and  less  querulous. 

"  We  had  some  reason  to  hope,"  he  said  cautiously, 
"  that  she  was  on  a  different  course.  It  is  just  pos- 
sible, however,  that  in  changing  it  she  might  have 
struck  this  bank  of  fog  and  preferred  to  hang  about 
for  a  time." 

"  What  will  happen  if  she  finds  \is?  " 

"  That  depends  entirely  upon  circumstances." 

"  I  have  an  idea,"  Katharine  continued,  "  that  you 
know  more  about  this  matter  than  you  feel  inclined 
to  divulge." 

"  Perhaps,"  he  admitted.  "  Nowadays,  every  one 
has  to  learn  discretion." 

"  Is  it  necessary  with  me.-*  " 


126     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

*'  It  is  necessary  with  any  friend  of  Mr.  Joceljn 
Thew,"  he  told  her  didactically. 

"  What  a  suspicious  person  you  are ! "  she  ex- 
claimed, a  little  scornfully.  "You  are  just  like  all 
your  countrymen.  You  get  hold  of  an  idea  and 
nothing  can  shake  it.  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,  I  dare 
say,  possesses  a  past.  I  know  for  a  fact  that  he 
has  been  engaged  in  all  sorts  of  adventures  during 
his  life.  But  —  at  your  instigation,  I  suppose  '■ — 
they  have  already  searched  his  person,  his  stateroom, 
and  every  article  of  luggage  he  has.  After  that,  why 
not  leave  him  alone.''  " 

"  Because  he  is  an  extremely  clever  person." 

*'  Then  you  are  not  satisfied  yet?  " 

"  Not  yet." 

"Am  I,  may  I  ask,  under  suspicion?"  she  en- 
quired, with  faint  sarcasm. 

"  I  should  not  like  to  say,"  he  replied  glibly,  "  that 
you  were  altogether  free  from  it." 

She  laughed  heartily. 

"  I  should  not  worry  about  the  army  if  I  were  you," 
she  advised.  "  I  am  quite  sure  that  secret-service 
work  is  the  natural  outlet  for  your  talents." 

"  I  shouldn't  be  surprised,"  he  confided,  "  if  head- 
quarters didn't  insist  upon  my  taking  it  up  per- 
manently. It  will  depend  a  httle,  of  course,  upon 
what  success  I  have  during  this  voyage." 

She  laughed  in  his  face  and  turned  away. 

"  I  will  tell  you  what  I  find  so  interesting  about 
you,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she  said.  "  You  must  be  either 
very  much  cleverer  than  you  seem,  or  very  much  more 
foolish.  You  keep  me  continually  guessing  as  to 
which  it  is." 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Towards  six  o'clock  that  evening,  without  any 
apparent  change  in  the  situation,  Captain  Jones  de- 
scended from  the  bridge  and  signalled  to  Crawshay, 
whom  he  passed  on  the  deck,  to  follow  him  into  his 
room.  The  great  ship  was  still  going  at  full  speed 
through  a  sea  which  was  as  smooth  as  glass. 

"Getting  out  of  it,  aren't  we?"  Crawshay  en- 
quired. 

The  captain  nodded.  His  hair  and  beard  were 
soaked  with  moisture,  and  there  were  beads  of  wet 
all  over  his  face.  Otherwise  he  seemed  little  the 
worse  for  his  long  vigil.  In  his  eyes,  however,  was 
a  new  anxiety. 

"  Another  five  miles,"  he  confided,  "  should  see  us 
in  clear  weather." 

"  Steamer's  still  following  us,  isn't  she?  " 

"  Sticking  to  us  like  a  leech,"  was  the  terse  reply. 
"  She  is  not  out  of  any  American  port.  She  must 
have  just  picked  us  up.  She  isn't  any  ordinary 
cargo  steamer,  either,  or  she  couldn't  make  the 
speed." 

"  I've  worked  it  out  by  your  chart,"  Crawshay 
declared,  "  and  it  might  very  well  be  the  Blucher. 
I  don't  think  I  made  the  altered  course  wide  enough, 
and  she  might  very  well  have  been  hanging  about  a 
bit  when  she  struck  the  fog  and  heard  our  engines.'* 

The  captain  lit  a  pipe. 


128     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  am  not  in  the  habit,  as  you  may  imagine,  of 
discussing  the  conduct  of  my  ship  with  any  one, 
Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  said,  "  but  you  come  to  me  with 
very  absolute  credentials,  and  it's  rather  a  comfort 
to  have  some  one  standing  by  with  whom  one  can 
share  the  responsibility.  You  see  my  couple  of 
guns?  They  are  about  as  useful  as  catapults  against 
the  Blucher,  whereas,  on  the  other  hand,  she  could 
sink  us  easily  with  a  couple  of  volleys." 

"  Just  so,"  Crawshay  agreed.  "  What  about 
speed,  Captain  ?  " 

"  If  our  reports  are  trustworthy,  we  might  be  able 
to  squeeze  out  one  more  knot  than  she  can  do,"  was 
the  doubtful  reply,  "  but,  you  see,  she'll  follow  us 
out  of  this  last  bank  of  fog  practically  within  rifle 
range.  I've  altered  my  course  three  or  four  times 
so  as  to  get  a  start,  but  she  hangs  on  like  grim 
death.  That's  what  makes  me  so  sure  that  it's  the 
Blucher.''* 

"  Want  my  advice?  "  Crawshay  asked. 

"  That's  the  idea,"  the  captain  acquiesced. 

"  Stoke  her  up,  then,  and  drive  full  speed  ahead. 
Take  no  notice  of  any  signals.  Make  for  home  with 
the  last  ounce  you  can  squeeze  out  of  her." 

"  That's  all  very  well,"  Captain  Jones  observed. 
"  but  there  will  be  at  least  half  an  hour  during  which 
we  shall  be  within  effective  range.  She  might  sink 
us  a  dozen  times  over." 

"  Yes,  but  I  don't  tlu'nk  she  will." 

"Why  not?" 

"  If  the  theory  upon  which  I  started  this  wild- 
goose  chase  is  correct,"  Crawshay  explained,  "  there 
is  something  on  board  this  ship  infinitely  more  val- 


THE  BOX  WITH"  BROKEN  SEALS      129 

uable  than  the  ship  itself  to  Germany.  That  is  why 
I  think  that  she  will  strain  every  nerve  to  try  and 
capture  you,  of  course,  but  she  will  never  sink  you, 
because  if  she  did  she  would  lose  everything  her 
Secret  Service  have  worked  for  in  Germany  ever 
since,  and  even  before  the  commencement  of  the  war."' 

"  It's  an  idea,"  the  captain  admitted,  with  a  gleam 
in  his  eyes. 

"  It's  commonsensc,"  Crawshay  urged.  "  When. 
I  left  Halifax,  I  was  ready  to  take  twenty-five  to 
one  that  we'd  been  sold.  I  wouldn't  mind  laying 
twenty-five  to  one  now  that  what  we  are  in  search  of 
is  somewhere  on  board  this  steamer.  If  that  is  so, 
the  Blucher  will  never  dare  to  sink  you,  because 
there  will  still  remain  the  chance  of  the  person  on 
board  who  is  in  charge  of  the  documents  getting 
away  with  them  at  the  other  end,  whereas  down  at 
the  bottom  of  the  Atlantic  they  would  be  of  no  use 
to  any  one." 

"  I  see  your  point  of  view,"  the  other  agreed. 

"  Then  you'd  better  take  my  tip,"  Crawshay  con- 
tinued. "  There  isn't  a  passenger  on  board  who 
didn't  know  the  risk  they  were  running  when  they 
started,  and  I'm  sure  no  one  will  blame  you  for  not 
surrendering  your  ship  like  a  dummy  directly  you're 
asked.  They're  a  pretty  sporting  lot  in  the  saloon, 
you  know.  All  those  newspaper  men  are  real  good 
felloAvs." 

The  captain's  face  brightened. 

"  Next  to  fighting  her,"  he  soliloquised,  stroking 
his  beard, — 

"  The  idea  of  fighting  her  is  ridiculous,"  Crawshay 
interrupted.     "  Look  here,  you  haven't  any  time  ta 


130     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

lose.  Send  to  the  engineer  and  let  him  give  it  to 
them  straight  down  below.  I'll  give  a  tenner  apiece 
to  the  stokers,  If  we  get  clear,  and  if  my  advice  turns 
out  wrong,  I'll  see  you  through  It,  anyway." 

"  We  can  leg  it  at  a  trifle  over  nineteen  knots,'* 
Captain  Jones  declared,  as  he  picked  up  his  cap, 
*'  and,  anyway,  anythlng's  better  than  having  one  of 
those  short-haired,  smooth-tongued,  blustering  Ger- 
mans on  board." 

He  hurried  off,  and  Crawshay  followed  him  on 
deck  to  watch  developments.  Already,  through  what 
seemed  to  be  an  opening  In  the  walls  of  fog,  there  was 
a  vision  in  front  of  clear  blue  sea  on  which  a  still 
•concealed  sun  was  shining.  Soon  they  passed  out 
into  a  new  temperature  of  pleasant  warmth,  with  a 
skyline  ahead,  hard  and  clear.  The  passengers  came 
crowding  on  deck.  Every  one  leaned  over  the  star- 
board rail,  looking  towards  the  place  whence  the 
sound  of  the  hooting  was  still  proceeding.  Sud- 
denly a  steamer  crept  out  of  the  fog  mountain  and 
drew  clear,  barely  half  a  mile  away.  The  first 
glimpse  at  her  was  final.  She  had  cast  off  all  dis- 
guise. Her  false  forecastle  was  thrown  back,  and 
the  sun  glittered  upon  three  exceedingly  formidable- 
looking  guns,  trained  upon  the  City  of  Boston.  A 
row  of  signals,  already  hoisted,  were  fluttering  from 
her  mast. 

"  It's  the  Blucher,  by  God ! "  Sam  West  muttered. 

*'  We're  nabbed ! "  his  little  friend  groaned. 
"  Wonder  what  they'll  do  with  us." 

Every  eye  was  upturned  now  to  the  mast  for  the 
answering  signals.  To  the  universal  surprise,  none 
were  hoisted.     The  captain  stood  upon  the  bridge 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     131 

with  his  glass  focussed  upon  the  raider.  He  gave 
no  orders,  only  the  black  smoke  was  beginning  to 
belch  now  from  the  funnels,  and  little  pieces  of  smut 
and  burning  coal  blew  down  the  deck.  Jocelyn 
Thew,  who  was  standing  a  little  apart,  frowned  to 
himself.  He  had  seen  Crawshay  and  the  captain 
come  out  of  the  latter's  cabin  together. 

The  blue  lightnings  were  playing  now  unchecked 
about  the  top  of  the  Marconi  room.  Another  more 
imperative  signal  flew  from  the  pirate  ship.  A  min- 
ute later  there  was  a  puff  of  white  smoke,  a  loud 
report,  and  a  shell  burst  in  the  sea,  fifty  yards  ahead. 
Crawshay  edged  up  to  where  Jocelyn  Thew  was 
standing. 

"  This  is  a  damned  unpleasant  affair,"  he  said. 

"  It  is,"  was  the  grim  reply. 

"  You  know  it's  the  Blucher?  ** 

"  No  doubt  about  that." 

"What  on  earth  are  we  up  to.''"  Crawshay  con- 
tinued, in  a  dissatisfied  tone.  "  We  haven't  even 
replied  to  her  signals." 

"  It  appears  to  me,"  Jocelyn  Thew  pronounced 
irritably,  "  that  we  are  going  to  try  and  get  away. 
I  never  heard  of  such  lunacy.  They  can  blow  us  to 
pieces  if  they  want  to." 

Crawshay  shivered. 

*'  I  think,"  he  protested,  "  that  some  one  ought  to 
remonstrate  with  the  captain.  Look,  there's  another 
shell  coming !     Damned  ugly  things  !  " 

There  was  another  puff  of  white  smoke,  and  this 
time  the  projectile  fell  within  a  steamer's  length  of 
them,  sending  a  great  fountain  of  water  into  the 
air. 


132     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Thej  are  giving  us  plenty  of  warning,"  Jocelj^n 
Thew  observed  coolly.  "  I  suppose  we  shall  get  the 
next  one  amidships." 

"  I  find  it  most  upsetting,"  his  companion  de- 
clared. "  I  am  going  down  to  the  cabin  to  get  my 
lifebelt." 

He  turned  away.  Presently  there  was  another  line 
of  signals,  more  shots,  some  across  the  bows  of  the 
steamer,  some  right  over  her,  a  few  aft.  Neverthe- 
less, the  City  of  Boston  stood  on  her  course,  and  the 
distance  between  the  two  steamers  gradually  widened. 
Katharine,  who  had  come  up  on  deck,  stood  by  Joce- 
lyn  Thew's  side. 

"  Is  this  really  the  way  that  they  shoot,"  she 
asked,  "  or  aren't  they  trying  to  hit  us?  " 

"  They  are  not  trying,"  he  told  her.  "  If  they 
were,  every  shot  they  fired  at  this  range  would  be 
sufficient  to  send  us  to  the  bottom." 

"  Why  aren't  they  trying?  "  she  persisted. 

"  There's  a  reason  for  that,  which  I  can't  at  the 
moment  explain,"  was  the  gloomy  reply.  "  They 
want  to  capture  us,  not  sink  us !  What  I  can't  un- 
derstand, though,  is  how  the  captain  here  found  that 
out." 

"  How  is  it  that  you  are  so  well-informed?  "  Kath- 
arine asked  curiously. 

"  You  had  better  not  enquire.  Miss  Beverley.  It's 
just  as  well  not  to  know  too  much  of  these  things. 
Here's  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  added.  "  Perhaps  he'll 
tell  you." 

Crawshay  appeared,  hugging  his  lifebelt,  on  which 
he  seated  himself  gingerly. 

"  Can't   imagine  what   the   captain's   up   to,"  he 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     133 

complained.  "  A  chap  who  understands  those  little 
flags  has  just  told  me  that  they've  threatened  to  blow 
us  to  pieces  if  we  go  on. —  Here  comes  another 
shell ! "  he  groaned.  "  Two  to  one  they've  got  us 
this  time  !—     Ugh !  " 

They  all  ducked  to  avoid  a  shower  of  spray. 
When  they  stood  upright  again,  Katharine  studied 
the  newcomer  for  a  minute  critically.  There  was  a 
certain  air  of  strain  about  most  of  the  passengers. 
Even  Jocelyn  Thew's  firm  hand  had  trembled,  a  mo- 
ment ago,  as  he  had  lowered  his  glasses.  Crawsliay, 
seated  upon  his  lifebelt,  with  a  mackintosh  buttoned 
around  him,  his  eyeglass  firmly  adjusted,  his  mouth 
querulous,  was  not  exactly  an  impressive-looking  ob- 
ject.    Yet  she  wondered. 

"  Give  me  your  hand,"  she  asked  suddenly. 

He  obeyed  -at  once.  The  fingers  were  cool  and 
firm. 

"Why  do  you  pretend  to  be  afraid?"  she  de- 
manded.    "  You  aren't  in  the  least." 

"  Amateur  theatricals,"  he  replied  tersely,  "  cou- 
pled with  a  certain  amount  of  self-control.  I  am  a 
cool-tempered  fellow  at  most  times. —  Jove,  this 
one's  meant  for  us,  I  believe !  " 

They  all  ducked  instinctively.  The  shell,  how- 
ever, fell  short.  Crawshay  measured  the  distance 
between  the  two  steamers  with  his  eyes. 

"  Dashed  if  I  don't  believe  we're  giving  them  the 
slip !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  I  wonder  why  in  thunder 
they're  letting  us  off  like  tliis  I  Tlie  captain  must 
have  known  something." 

Jocelyn  Thew  turned  around  and  looked  reflec- 
tively at  the  speaker.     For  a  single  moment  Craw- 


134     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

shay's  muscles  tingled  with  the  apprehension  of  dan- 
ger. There  was  a  smouldering  light  in  the  other's 
eyes,  such  a  light  as  might  gleam  in  the  tiger's  eyes 
before  his  spring.  Crawshay's  hand  slipped  to  his 
hip  pocket.  So  for  a  moment  they  remained.  Then 
Jocelyn  Thew  shrugged  his  shoulders,  and  the  tense 
moment  was  past. 

"  There  seems  to  be  some  one  on  this  ship,"  he 
said  quietly,  "  who  knows  more  than  is  good  for 
him." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

The  City  of  Boston  passed  through  the  danger 
zone  in  safety,  and  dropped  anchor  in  the  Mersey 
only  a  few  hours  later  than  the  time  of  her  expected 
arrival.  Towards  the  close  of  a  somewhat  uproari- 
ous dinner,  during  which  many  bottles  of  champagne 
were  emptied  to  various  toasts,  Captain  Jones  quite 
unexpectedly  entered  the  saloon,  and,  waving  his 
hand  in  response  to  the  cheers  which  greeted  him, 
made  his  way  to  his  usual  table,  from  which  he  ad- 
dressed the  little  company. 

"  La-dies  and  gentlemen,"  he  said,  "  I  have  an 
announcement  to  make  to  which  I  beg  you  will  listen 
with  patience.  Both  the  English  and  the  American 
police,  whether  with  reason  or  not,  as  we  may  pres- 
ently determine,  have  come  to  the  conclusion  that  a 
large  number  of  very  important  documents,  collected 
in  America  by  the  agents  of  a  foreign  power,  have 
been  smuggled  across  the  Atlantic  upon  this  ship, 
in  the  hope  that  they  may  eventually  reach  Germany. 
In  a  quarter  of  an  hour's  time,  a  number  of  plain- 
clothes policemen  will  be  on  board.  I  am  going  to 
ask  you,  as  loyal  British  and  American  subjects,  to 
subject  yourselves,  without  resistance  or  complaint, 
to  any  search  which  they  may  choose  to  make.  I 
may  add  that  my  own  person,  luggage  and  cabin 
will  be  the  first  object  of  their  attention." 


136     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

The  captain,  having  delivered  his  address,  left  the 
saloon  again  amidst  a  little  buzz  of  voices.  There 
had  probably  never  been  a  voyage  across  the  Atlantic 
in  which  a  matter  of  forty  passengers  had  been 
treated  to  so  many  rumours  and  whispers  of  strange 
happenings.  Sam  West  got  up  and  spoke  a  few 
words,  counselling  the  ready  assent  of  every  one 
there  to  submit  to  anything  that  was  thought  neces- 
sary. He  briefly  commented  upon  their  unexplained 
but  fortuitous  escape  from  the  raider,  and  heaped 
congratulations  upon  their  captain.  Very  soon  after 
he  had  resumed  his  seat,  the  shrill  whistle  of  a  tug 
alongside  indicated  the  arrival  of  visitors.  A  stew- 
ard passed  back  and  forth  amongst  the  passengers 
with  a  universal  request  —  all  were  asked  to  repair 
to  their  staterooms.  Twenty-seven  exceedingly 
alert-looking  men  thereupon  commenced  their  task. 

Seated  upon  the  couch  in  her  room,  with  a  cup 
of  coffee  by  her  side  and  a  cigarette  between  her  lips, 
Katharine  listened  to  the  conversation  which  passed 
in  the  opposite  room,  the  one  which  had  been  ten- 
anted by  Phillips.  For  some  reason,  the  end  of  the 
voyage,  instead  of  bringing  her  the  relief  which  she 
had  expected,  had  only  increased  her  nervous  excite- 
ment. She  was  filled  with  an  extraordinary  presci- 
ence of  some  coming  crisis.  She  found  herself  trem- 
bling as  she  listened  to  Doctor  Gant's  harsh  voice 
and  the  smooth  accents  of  his  interlocutor. 

"  Well,  that  completes  our  search  of  your  be- 
longings. Doctor  Gant,"  the  latter's  voice  observed. 
"  Now  I  want  to  ask  a  few  questions  with  reference 
to  the  Mr.  Phillips  who  I  understand  died  the  day 
before  yesterday  under  your  charge." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     137 

"That  is  so,"  Doctor  Gant  agreed.  "He  had 
no  luggage,  as  we  only  made  up  our  minds  to  under- 
take the  journey  with  him  at  the  last  moment.  The 
few  oddments  he  used  on  the  voyage,  we  burned." 

"  And  the  body,  I  understand, — " 

"  You  can  examine  it  at  once,  if  you  will,"  the 
doctor  interrupted.  "  We  have  purposely  left  the 
coffin  lid  only  partly  screwed  down.  I  should  like 
to  say,  however,  that  before  arranging  the  deceased 
for  burial,  I  asked  the  ship's  doctor  to  make  an 
examination  with  me  of  the  coffin  and  the  garments 
which  I  used.  He  signed  the  certificate,  and  he  will 
be  ready  to  answer  any  questions." 

"  That  seems  entirely  satisfactory,"  the  detective 
confessed.  "  I  will  just  have  the  coffin  lid  off  for  a 
few  moments,  and  will  see  the  doctor  before  I  leave 
the  ship." 

The  men  left  the  room  together  and  were  absent 
some  ten  minutes.  Presently  the  detective  returned 
to  Katharine's  room,  and  with  him  came  Crawshay. 
Katharine  had  discarded  the  nurse's  costume  which 
she  had  usually  worn  on  board  ship,  and  was  wear- 
ing the  black  tailor-made  suit  in  which  she  had  ex- 
pected to  land.  In  the  dim  light,  her  pallor  and 
nervous  condition  almost  startled  Crawshay. 

"  You  will  forgive  my  intrusion,"  he  said.  "  I 
have  just  been  explaining  your  presence  here  to  Mr. 
Brightman,  the  detective,  and  I  don't  think  he  will 
trouble  you  for  more  than  a  few  minutes." 

"  Please  treat  me  exactly  as  the  others,"  she 
begged. 

The  search  proceeded  for  a  few  moments  in  silence. 
Then  the  detective  looked  up  from  the  dressing  case 


138     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

which  he  was  examining.  In  his  hand  he  held  the 
envelope  addressed  to  Mrs.  Phillips. 

"  Do  you  mind  telling  me  what  this  is,  Miss  Bever- 
ley.'' "  he  asked. 

"  It  is  a  roll  of  bills,"  she  replied,  "  that  belonged 
to  Mr.  Phillips.  I  promised  to  see  them  handed 
over  to  his  wife." 

Brightman  glanced  at  the  address  and  balanced 
the  envelope  on  the  palm  of  his  hand. 

"  It  is  against  the  law,"  he  told  her,  "  for  a  pas- 
senger to  be  the  bearer  of  any  sealed  letter." 

Katharine  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  I  am  very  sorry,"  she  said,  "  but  the  packet  which 
you  have  did  not  come  from  America  at  all.  It  was 
scaled  up  on  board  this  ship  at  the  time  when  I  ac- 
cepted the  charge  of  its  delivery.  There  is  no  letter 
or  communication  of  any  sort  inside." 

"  You  will  not  object,"  the  detective  enquired,  "  to 
my  opening  it?  " 

She  frowned  impatiently. 

"  I  can  assure  you,"  she  repeated,  "  that  I  saw  the 
notes  put  inside  an  empty  envelope.  Mr.  Crawshay 
will  tell  you  that  my  word  is  to  be  relied  upon." 

"  Implicitly,  Miss  Beverley,"  Crawshay  pro- 
nounced emphatically,  "  but  under  the  circumstances 
I  think  no  harm  would  be  done  if  you  allowed  our 
friend  just  to  glance  inside.  The  notes  can  easily 
be  sealed  up  in  another  envelope." 

"  Just  as  you  like,"  she  acquiesced  coolly.  "  You 
will  find  nothing  but  bills  there." 

Brightman  tore  open  the  envelope  and  glanced  in- 
side as  though  he  did  not  intend  further  to  disturb 
it.     Suddenly  his  face  changed.     He  shook  out  the 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     139 

contents  upon  the  little  table.  They  all  three  looked 
at  the  pile  of  papers  with  varying  expressions.  In 
Katharine's  face  there  was  nothing  but  blank  be- 
wilderment, in  Crawshay's  something  of  horror,  in 
the  detective's  a  faint  gleam  of  triumph.  He  pressed 
his  finger  down  on  the  heading  of  the  first  sheet  of 
paper. 

"  I  am  not  much  of  a  German  scholar,"  he  ob- 
served. "  How  do  you  translate  that,  Mr.  Craw- 
shay  .?  " 

Crawshay  was  silent  for  several  moments.  Then 
in  a  perfectly  mechanical  tone  he  read  out  the  head- 
ing: 

"  *  List  of  our  agents  in  New  York  and  district 
who  may  be  absolutely  trusted  for  any  enter- 
prise.' '* 

There  was  another  dead  silence,  a  silence,  on  Kath- 
arine's part,  of  complete  mental  paralysis.  Craw- 
shay's face  had  lost  all  its  smooth  petulance.  He 
was  like  a  man  who  had  received  a  blow. 

"  But  I  don't  understand,"  Katharine  faltered  at 
last.  "  That  packet  has  not  been  out  of  my  posses- 
sion, and  I  saw  the  notes  put  into  it." 

"  By  whom  ?  "  Crawshay  demanded. 

"  By  Mr.  Phillips,"  she  declared  steadfastly,  "  by 
Mr.  Phillips  and  Doctor  Gant  together." 

The  detective  turned  the  envelope  over  in  his 
hand. 

"  The  bills  seem  to  have  disappeared,"  he  observed. 

"  They  were  in  that  envelope,"  Katharine  persisted. 
"  I  have  never  seen  those  papers  before  in  my  life." 

Brightman's  face  remained  immovable.  One  by 
one  he  slipped  the  papers  back  into  the  envelope. 


140     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

thrust  them  into  his  breast  pocket,  and,  turning 
round,  locked  the  door. 

"  You  must  forgive  me  if  the  rest  of  our  investi- 
gations may  seem  unnecessarily  severe.  Miss  Bever- 
ley," he  said. 

Katharine  sank  back  upon  the  sofa.  She  was 
utterly  bewildered  by  the  events  of  the  last  few  min- 
utes. The  search  of  her  belongings  was  now  being 
conducted  with  ruthless  persistence.  Her  head  was 
buried  in  her  hands.  She  did  not  even  glance  at 
the  contents  of  her  trunk,  which  were  now  overflow- 
ing the  room.  Suddenly  she  was  conscious  of  another 
pause  in  the  proceedings,  a  half-spoken  exclamation 
from  the  detective.  She  looked  up.  From  within 
the  folds  of  an  evening  gown  he  had  withdrawn  a 
small,  official-looking  dispatch  box  of  black  tin,  tied 
with  red  tape,  and  with  great  seals  hanging  from 
either  end. 

"  What  is  this.?  "  he  asked. 

Katharine  stared  at  it  with  wide-open  eyes. 

"  I  have  never  seen  it  before,"  she  declared. 

There  was  another  painful,  significant  silence. 
Crawshay  bent  forward  and  exijuined  the  seals 
through  his  glass. 

"  This,"  he  announced  presently,  "  is  the  official 
seal  of  a  neutral  Embassy.  You  see  how  the  packet 
is  addressed.''  " 

"  I  see,"  the  detective  admitted,  *'  but,  considering 
the  way  in  which  we  have  found  it,  you  arc  not  sug- 
gesting, I  hope,  that  we  should  not  open  it?  " 

"  Opened  it  certainly  must  be,"  Crawshay  ad- 
mitted, "  but  not  by  us  in  this  manner.  When  you 
have  finished  your  search,  I  should  be  glad  if  you 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     141 

will  bring  both  packets  with  you  to  the  captain's 
room." 

Brightman  silently  resumed  his  labours.  Noth- 
ing further,  however,  was  found.  The  two  men  stood 
up  together. 

"  Miss  Beverley,"  Brightman  began  gravely, — 

Crawshay  laid  his  hand  upon  the  man's  arm. 

"  Wait  for  a  moment,"  he  begged.  "  I  wish  to 
have  a  few  words  with  you  outside.  We  shall  be  back 
before  long,  Miss  Beverley." 

The  two  men  disappeared.  Katharine,  with  a 
sinking  of  the  heart,  heard  the  key  turn  on  the  outside 
of  her  stateroom.  She  watched  the  lock  slip  into  its 
place  with  an  indescribable  sense  of  humiliation. 
She  had  been  guilty  —  of  what.? 

She  lost  count  of  time,  but  it  was  certain  that  only 
a  few  minutes  could  have  passed  before  a  strange 
thing  happened.  The  sight  of  that  lock,  which 
seemed  somehow  to  shut  her  off  from  the  world  of 
reasonable,  honest  men  and  women,  had  fascinated 
her.  She  was  sitting  watching  it,  her  chin  resting 
upon  her  hands,  something  of  the  horror  still  in  her 
eyes,  when  without  sound,  or  any  visible  explanation^ 
she  saw  it  glide  back  to  its  place.  The  door  was 
opened  and  closed.  Jocelyn  Thew  was  standing  in 
her  stateroom. 

"  You.''  "  she  exclaimed. 

"  I  am  not  disappointed  in  you,  I  am  sure,"  he 
said  softly.  "  You  will  keep  still.  You  will  not  say 
a  word.  I  have  risked  the  whole  success  of  a  great 
enterprise  to  come  and  say  these  few  words  to  you. 
I  am  ashamed  and  sorry  for  what  you  are  suffering,. 
but  I  want  to  tell  you  this.     Nothing  serious  will 


142     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

happen  —  nothing  serious  can  happen  to  you. 
Everything  is  not  as  it  seems.  Will  you  believe 
that?     Look  at  me. —     Will  you  believe  that?  " 

She  raised  her  eyes.  Once  more  there  was  that 
change  in  his  face  which  had  seemed  so  wonderful  to 
her.  The  blue  of  his  eyes  was  soft,  his  mouth  al- 
most tremulous.  She  answered  him  almost  as  though 
mesmerised. 

"  I  will  believe  it,"  she  promised. 

As  silently  and  mysteriously  as  he  had  come,  he 
turned  and  left  her.  She  watched  the  latch.  She 
saw  the  lock  creep  silently  once  more  into  its  place. 
She  heard  no  movement  outside,  but  Jocelyn  Thew 
had  gone. 

During  the  few  remaining  minutes  of  her  solitude, 
Katharine  felt  a  curious  change  in  the  atmosphere  of 
the  little  disordered  stateroom,  in  her  own  dazed 
and  bruised  feelings.  She  seemed  somehow  to  be 
playing  a  part  in  a  little  drama  which  had  nothing 
to  do  with  real  life.  All  her  fears  had  vanished. 
She  rose  from  her  place,  smoothed  her  disordered 
hair  carefully,  bathed  her  temples  with  eau-de- 
cologne,  adjusted  her  hat  and  veil,  and,  turning  on 
the  reading  lamp,  opened  a  novel.  She  actually 
managed  to  read  a  couple  of  pages  before  there  was 
a  knock  at  the  door  and  the  two  men  reappeared. 
She  laid  down  her  book  and  greeted  them  quite 
coolly. 

"  Well,  have  you  come  to  pronounce  sentence  upon 
me?  "  she  asked. 

"  Our  authority  scarcely  goes  so  far,"  Brightman 
replied.     "  I  afm  going  on  shore  now,  Miss  Beverley, 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     143 

to  fetch  the  consul  of  the  country  to  which  this 
packet  is  addressed.  It  will  be  opened  in  his  pres- 
ence. In  the  meantime,  Mr.  Crawshay  has  given  his 
parole  for  you.  You  will  therefore  be  free  of  the 
ship,  but  it  will  be,  I  am  afraid,  my  duty  to  ask  you 
to  come  with  me  to  the  police  station  for  a  further 
examination,  on  my  return." 

"  I  am  sure  I  shall  like  to  come  very  much,"  she 
said  sweetly,  "  but  if  you  go  on  asking  me  questions 
forever,  I  am  afraid  you  won't  come  any  nearer  solv- 
ing the  problem  of  how  that  box  got  into  my  trunk, 
or  how  those  bills  got  changed  into  those  queer-look- 
ing little  slips  of  papers.  However,  that  of  course 
is  your  affair." 

The  detective  departed  with  a  stiff  bow.  Craw- 
shay, however,  lingered. 

"Aren't  you  going  with  your  friend?  "  she  asked 
him. 

He  ignored  the  question. 

"  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  you  will  forgive  me 
saying  that  I  find  the  present  position  exceedingly 
painful." 

"  Why  ?  "  she  demanded.  *'  I  don't  see  how  you 
are  suffering  by  it." 

"  It  was  at  my  instigation,"  he  went  on,  *'  that 
suspicion  was  first  directed  against  your  travelling 
companions.  I  am  convinced  that  the  first  idea  was 
to  get  these  documents  off  the  ship  upon  the  person 
of  Phillips,  if  alive,  or  in  his  coffin  if  dead.  The  in- 
tigators  of  this  abominable  conspiracy  have  taken 
fright  and  have  made  you  their  victim.  Certainly," 
he  went  on,  "  it  was  a  shrewd  idea.  I  myself  sug- 
gested to  Brightman  that  your  tilings  might  remain 


144     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

undisturbed.  But  for  the  finding  of  that  envelope, 
jour  trunk  would  certainly  not  have  been  opened. 
You  see  the  position  I  have  placed  myself  in.  I  am 
driven  to  ask  you  a  question.  Did  you  know  of  the 
presence  of  those  papers  and  dispatch  box  amongst 
your  belongings.''  " 

*'  I  had  no  idea  of  it,"  she  answered  fervently. 

He  drew  a  little  breath  of  relief. 

"  You  realise,  of  course,"  he  went  on,  "  that  there 
is  only  one  man  who  could  have  placed  them  there.''  " 

"  And  who  is  that?  "  she  enquired. 

"  Jocclyn  Thew." 

"And  why  do  you  single  him  out.''" 

"  Because,"  Crawshay  told  her  patiently,  "  we  had 
•evidence  in  America  to  show  that  he  was  working 
with  our  enemies.  It  is  true  that  he  has  not  been 
associated  to  any  extent  with  the  German  espionage 
system  in  America,  but  he  has  been  well-known  al- 
ways as  a  reckless  adventurer,  ready  to  sell  his  life 
in  any  doubtful  cause,  so  long  as  it  promised  excite- 
ment and  profit.  It  was  known  to  us  that  he  had 
come  into  touch  with  a  certain  man  in  Washington 
who  has  been  looking  after  the  interests  of  his  coun- 
try in  America.  It  was  to  shadow  Jocelyn  Thew 
that  I  came  on  this  steamer.  His  friends  cleverly 
fooled  Hobson  and  me,  and  landed  us  in  Chicago  too 
late,  as  they  thought,  to  catch  the  boat.  That  is 
why  I  made  that  somewhat  melodramatic  journey 
after  you  on  the  seaplane.  Do  please  consider  this 
matter  reasonably.  Miss  Beverley.  It  was  perfectly 
easy  for  him  to  slip  across  and  place  these  things 
in  your  luggage  as  soon  as  he  found  that  his  orig- 
inal scheme  was  likely  to  go  wrong.     You  were  the 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     145 

one  person  on  the  steamer  whom  he  reckoned  would 
be  safe  from  suspicion.  You  were  part  of  his  plot 
from  the  very  first,  and  no  more  than  that." 

"  I  cannot  believe  this,"  she  said  slowly. 

Crawshay's  face  darkened. 

"  It  is  no  business  of  mine,  Miss  Beverley,"  he  de- 
clared, "  but  if  you  will  forgive  my  saying  so,  you 
must  be  infatuated  by  this  man.  The  evidence  is 
perfectly  clear.  You  are  a  prominent  citizeness  of 
a  great  country,  and  you  have  been  made  an  acces- 
sory to  an  act  of  treason  against  that  country. 
Yet,  with  plain  facts  in  my  hands,  it  seems  impos- 
sible for  me  to  shake  your  faith  in  this  person.  What 
is  the  reason  of  it.''  What  hold  had  he  upon  you 
that  he  should  have  induced  you  to  leave  your  work 
and  your  home  and  betray  your  country.''  " 

"  He  has  no  hold  upon  me  at  all,"  she  replied  in- 
dignantly. "  Since  you  are  so  persistent,  I  will  tell 
you  the  truth.  I  once  saw  him  do  a  splendid  thing, 
a  deed  which  saved  me  from  great  unhappiness." 

"  There  we  have  it  then  at  last !  "  Crawshay  ex- 
claimed eagerly.  "  You  are  under  obligations  to 
him." 

"  I  certainly  am,"  she  acknowledged. 

"  And  he  has  taken  advantage  of  it,"  Crawshay 
continued,  "  to  make  you  his  tool." 

"  Whatever  he  has  done,"  she  replied,  "  rests  be- 
tween Jocelyn  Thew  and  me.  I  am  not  in  the  least 
disposed  to  excuse  myself  or  to  beg  for  mercy  from 
you.  If  you  represent  the  law,  directly  or  indi- 
rectly, I  do  not  ask  for  any  favours.  I  shall  be 
perfectly  ready  to  go  to  your  police  station  when- 
ever I  am  sent  for." 


146     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  They  both  turned 
around.  In  reply  to  Katharine's  mechanical  "  Come 
in,"  Jocelyn  Thew  entered. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,"  he  said,  "  was  I  mistaken 
or  did  I  hear  my  name?  " 

"  We  were  speaking  of  you,"  Crawshay  admitted, 
turning  towards  him,  "  but  I  do  not  think  that 
either  Miss  Beverley  or  I  have  anything  to  say  to 
you  at  the  moment." 

"  That's  rather  a  pity,"  was  the  cool  reply,  "  be- 
cause you  may  not  see  me  again.  I  was  looking  for 
Miss  Beverley,  in  fact,  to  say  good-by.  We  are 
docking  in  half  an  hour,  and  those  who  have  been 
searched  can  go  on  shore,  if  they  like  to  leave  their 
hold  luggage.  As  I  have  been  searched  twice  in  the 
most  thorough  and  effective  fashion,  I  have  my  pass 
out." 

"  You  mean  that  you  are  ^oing  away  altogether 
to-night.''  "  Katharine  exclaimed. 

"  Only  so  far  as  the  Adelphi,"  he  told  her.  "  I 
have  some  friends  to  see  who  live  near  Liverpool,  so 
I  shall  probably  stay  there  for  two  or  three  days." 

"  I  was  coming  to  look  for  you  on  deck  presently," 
Crawshay  intervened,  "  but  if  your  departure  is  so 
imminent,  I  will  say  what  I  have  to  say  to  you 
here." 

"  That  would  seem  advisable,"  Jocelyn  Thew 
agreed. 

"  I  think  it  is  only  right  that  you  should  know, 
sir,"  Crawshay  continued,  "  that  a  very  serious  posi- 
tion has  arisen  here  in  which  ]\Iiss  Beverley  is  unfortu- 
nately involved.  Incriminating  documents  have  been 
found  in  her  luggage,  placed  there  obviously  by  some 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     147 

unscrupulous  person,  who  was  in  search  of  a  safe 
hiding-place." 

"  Is  this  true?  "  Joceljn  Thew  asked,  looking  past 
Crawshay  to  Katharine. 

"  I  am  afraid  that  it  is,"  she  assented. 

"  The  person  who  placed  them  there,"  Crawshay 
proceeded,  the  anger  gathering  in  his  tone,  "  may 
believe  for  the  present  that  he  has  been  able  to  escape 
from  his  dangerous  position  by  this  dastardly  at- 
tempt to  incriminate  a  woman.  He  may,  on  the 
other  hand,  find  that  his  immunity  will  last  but  a  very 
short  time." 

Jocelyn  Thew  nodded  in  calm  acquiescence. 

*'  I  am  at  a  loss,"  he  said,  "  to  account  for  your 
somewhat  melodramatic  tone,  but  I  really  do  not 
think  that  Miss  Beverley  has  very  much  to  fear." 

"  There  I  agree  with  you,"  Crawshay  declared. 
"  She  has  not  so  much  to  fear  as  the  criminal  who 
is  responsible  for  what  has  happened.  He  may 
think  that  he  has  escaped  by  saddling  his  crime  upon 
a  woman's  shoulders.  On  the  other  hand,  he  may 
discover  that  this  attempt,  which  only  aggravates 
his  position,  will  turn  out  to  be  futile." 

Jocelyn  Thew  held  out  his  hand  towards  Kathar- 
ine. 

"  Really,"  he  said,  "  the  tone  of  this  conversation 
takes  one  back  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  dear  old 
Drury  Lane  melodrama.  I  feel,  somehow  or  other," 
he  went  on,  looking  into  Katharine's  eyes,  "  that  our 
friend  here  has  cast  me  for  the  part  of  the  villain 
and  you  for  the  injured  heroine.  I  am  wondering 
whether  I  dare  ask  you  for  a  farewell  greeting?  " 

Katharine  did  not  hesitate  for  a  moment.     Her 


148     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

shapely,  ringless  hand  was  grasped  firmly  by  his 
brown,  lean  fingers.  She  felt  the  pressure  of  a 
signet  ring,  the  slight  tightening  of  his  grip  as  he 
leaned  a  little  towards  her.  Again  she  was  conscious 
of  that  feeling  of  exuberant  life  and  complete  confi- 
dence which  had  transformed  her  whole  and  humiliat- 
ing situation  so  short  a  time  ago. 

"  The  injured  heroine  is  always  forgiving,"  she 
declared, — "  even  though  she  may  have  nothing  to 
forgive.  Good-by,  Mr.  Thew,  and  good  fortune  to 
you 


t  " 


CHAPTER  XV 

The  morning  —  grey,  slightly  wet  —  brolce  upon 
Liverpool  docks,  the  ugliest  place  in  the  ugliest  city 
of  Europe.  A  thin  stream  of  people  descended  at 
irregular  intervals  down  the  gangway  from  the  City 
of  Boston  to  the  dock,  and  disappeared  in  various 
directions.  Amongst  the  first  came  a  melancholy 
little  procession  —  a  coffin  carried  by  two  ship's 
stewards,  with  Doctor  Gant  in  solitary  attendance 
behind.  After  the  passengers  came  a  sprinkling  of 
the  ship's  officers,  all  very  smart  and  in  a  great 
hurry.  Then  there  was  a  pause  of  several  hours. 
About  midday,  two  men  —  Brightman  and  a  stranger 
—  came  down  the  covered  way  into  the  dock  and 
boarded  the  steamer.  They  were  shown  at  once  into 
the  captain's  room,  where  Crawshay  and  Captain 
Jones  were  awaiting  them. 

"  This,"  Brightman  said,  introducing  his  com- 
panion, "  is  Mr.  Andelsen.  I  was  fortunate  enough 
to  find  him  on  the  point  of  leaving  for  London." 

Mr.  Andelsen  shook  hands  and  accepted  a  chair. 
Upon  the  table  in  front  of  the  captain  was  the  sealed 
dispatch  box.     Crawshay  had  a  suggestion  to  make. 

"  I  think,"  he  said,  "  that  Miss  Beverley  should 
be  here  herself  when  this  is  opened." 

"  I  have  no  objection,"  Brightman  assented. 

The  captain  rang  for  his  steward  and  sent  down 
a  message.     Mr.  Andelsen  —  a  tall,  thin  man,  dressed 


150     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

in  a  sombre  grey  suit  —  handled  the  seals  for  a  mo- 
ment, looked  at  the  address  of  the  box,  and  shook 
his  head. 

"  I  could  not  take  upon  myself  the  responsibility 
of  opening  this,"  he  declared.  "  It  is  certainly  the 
seal  of  the  Embassy  of  my  country,  but  the  box  is 
addressed  specifically  to  our  Foreign  Secretary  at 
the  Capital." 

"  We  quite  appreciate  that,"  Crawshay  admitted. 
"  The  captain,  I  believe,  is  not  asking  you  to  break 
it.  We  simply  wish  you  to  be  present  while  we 
do  so,  in  order  to  prove  that  no  disrespect  is  in- 
tended to  your  country,  and  in  order  that  you  j^our- 
self  may  have  an  opportunity  of  taking  a  note  of 
the  contents." 

"  So  long  as  it  is  understood  that  I  am  only  here 
as  a  witness,"  the  consul  acquiesced,  a  little  doubt- 
fully, "  I  am  quite  willing  to  remain." 

Katharine  was  presently  ushered  in.  She  was 
dressed  for  landing  in  a  smart  tailor-made  suit,  and 
her  appearance  was  entirely  cheerful.  Crawshay 
stepped  forward  and  handed  her  a  chair. 

"  Dear  me,"  she  said,  "  this  all  seems  very  formi- 
dable!     Am  I  under  arrest  or  anything?" 

"  The  captain  is  about  to  open  the  dispatch  box 
found  in  your  trunk.  Miss  Beverley,"  Crawshay  ex- 
plained, "  in  the  presence  of  Mr.  Andelsen  here,  who 
represents  the  country  whose  seals  are  attached.  I 
have  already  expressed  my  opinion  that  this  box  has 
been  surreptitiously  placed  amongst  your  belongings, 
and  although,  of  course,  our  chief  object  was  to  gain 
possession  of  it,  I  regret  very  much  the  position  in 
which  you  are  placed." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     151 

"You  are  very  kind,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she  re- 
joined, without  much  feeling.  "It  is  certainly  a 
fact  that  I  never  saw  the  box  before  it  was  dragged 
out  of  my  trunk  yesterday." 

The  captain  broke  the  seals,  untied  the  tape,  and 
with  a  chisel  and  hammer  knocked  the  top  off  the 
box.  They  all,  with  the  exception  of  Katharine, 
gathered  around  him  breathlessly  as  he  shook  out 
the  contents  on  to  the  table.  They  were  all  sharers 
in  the  same  shock  of  surprise  as  the  neatly  folded 
packets  of  ordinary  writing  paper  were  one  by  one 
disclosed.  Crawshay  seized  one  and  dragged  it  to 
the  light.  The  captain  kept  on  picking  them  up  and 
throwing  them  down  agfein.  Brightman  mechan- 
ically followed  his  example. 

"  The  whole  thing's  a  bluff ! "  Crawshay  ex- 
claimed. "  These  sheets  of  paper  are  all  blank ! 
There  isn't  any  trace  even  of  invisible  ink." 

The  consul  rose  to  his  feet  with  a  heavy  frown. 

"  This  is  a  very  obvious  practicjfl  joke,"  he  said 
angrily.  "  It  seems  a  pity  that  I  should  have  been 
compelled  to  miss  my  train  to  town." 

"A  practical  joke!"  the  captain  repeated.  "If 
it  is  I'm  damned  if  I  understand  the  point  of  it !  " 

"  Give  me  the  envelope  which  held  the  notes," 
Crawshay  demanded. 

The  captain  unlocked  his  safe  and  produced  it. 
Crawshay  glanced  through  some  of  the  documents 
hastily. 

"  These  are  all  bogus,  too ! "  he  exclaimed. 
"  There  are  no  such  streets  as  this  in  New  York  — 
no  such  names.     The  whole  thing's  a  sell !  " 

"  But   what   the  —  what    in    thunder    does    it    all 


152     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

mean?"  the  captain  demanded,  pulling  himself  up 
as  he  g'lanced  towards  Katharine. 

Brightman,  who  had  scarcely  spoken  a  word, 
leaned  across  the  table. 

"Probably,"  he  said  drily,  "it  means  that  some, 
one  a  little  cleverer  than  us  has  got  away  with  the  l 
real   stuff  whilst  we  played  around  with  this  rub- 
bish." 

"But  how?"  Crawshay  expostulated.  "Not  a 
soul  has  left  this  ship  who  hasn't  been  searched  to 
the  skin.  The  luggage  in  the  hold  is  going  out 
trunk  by  trunk,  after  every  cubic  foot  has  been  ran- 
sacked. We  have  had  a  guard  at  every  gangway 
since  we  were  docked." 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door.  The  ship's  doc- 
tor entered.  He  glanced  at  the  little  company  and 
hesitated. 

"  I  beg  your  pardon,  Captain,"  he  said,  "  could  I 
have  a  word  with  you  ?  " 

The  captain  moved  towards  the  threshold. 

*'  Ship's  business.  Doctor?  " 

"It's  just  a  queer  idea  of  mine  about  these  pa- 
pers," the  doctor  confessed.  "  It's  perhaps  scarcely 
worth  mentioning  — " 

"  You'd  better  come  in  and  tell  us  about  it,"  the 
captain  insisted.  "  That's  what  we're  all  talking 
about  at  the  present  moment." 

Crawshay  closed  the  door  behind  the  newcomer, 
whose  manner  was  still  to  some  extent  apologetic. 

"  It's  really  rather  a  mad  idea,"  the  latter  be- 
gan, "  and  I  understand  you  found  a  part  of  what 
you  were  searching  for,  at  any  rate.  But  you  know 
the  man  Phillips,  who'd  been  operated  upon  for  ap- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     153 

pendicitis  —  your  patient.  Miss  Beverley,  who  died 
during  the  voyage?  " 

"  What  about  him?  "  the  captain  demanded. 

"  Just  one  thing,"  the  Doctor  continued.  *'  There 
was  no  doubt  whatever  that  he  had  been  operated 
upon  for  appendicitis,  there  was  no  doubt  about  the 
compHcations,  there  was  no  doubt  about  his  death. 
I  helped  Doctor  Gant  —  who  seemed  a  very  reason- 
able person,  and  who  is  known  to  me  as  one  of  the 
physicians  at  Miss  Beverley's  hospital  —  in  various 
small  details,  and  at  his  request  I  went  over  the 
clothing  of  the  dead  man  and  even  knocked  the 
coffin  to  see  that  it  hadn't  a  double  bottom.  Doctor 
Gant  appeared  to  welcome  investigation  in  every 
shape  and  form,  and  yet,  now  that  it's  all  over, 
there  is  one  curious  thing  which  rather  bothers  me." 

"  Get  on  with  it,  man,"  the  captain  admonished. 
"  Can't  you  see  that  we're  all  in  a  fever  about  this 
business?  " 

The  doctor  produced  from  his  pocket  a  small 
strip  of  very  fine  quality  bandaging. 

"It's  just  this,"  he  explained.  "They  left  this 
fragment  of  bandaging  in  the  stateroom.  Phillips 
was  bound  up  with  it  around  the  wound,  as  was  quite 
natural,  but  it  isn't  ordinary  stuff,  you  see.  It's 
made  double  like  a  tube,  with  silk  inside.  He  must 
have  had  a  dozen  yards  of  this  around  his  leg  and 
side,  which  of  course  was  not  disturbed.  It's  a  hor- 
rible idea  to  a  layman,  I  know,"  he  went  on,  turning 
apologetically  to  Katharine, — 

"  Captain,  will  you  send  at  once  for  the  steward," 
Crawshay  interrupted,  "  who  carried  the  coffin  out?  " 

The  captain  sent  a  message  to  the  lower   deck. 


154     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Katharine  was  leaning  a  little  forward,  intensely  in- 
terested. 

"  Perhaps,  Miss  Beverley,  you  can  throw  some 
light  upon  this  ?  "  the  former  enquired  — "  in  your 
capacity  as  nurse,  I  mean." 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  I  am  sorry  that  I  cannot,"  she  replied.  "  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  I  was  never  allowed  to  touch  the 
bandages.     Doctor  Gant  did  all  that  himself." 

"  Have  you  ever  seen  any  bandaging  of  this  sort.f"  " 
Brightman  asked,  showing  her  the  fragment  which 
he  had  taken  from  the  doctor's  fingers. 

"  Never." 

Crawshay  drew  a  little  breath  between  his  teeth. 
He  was  on  the  point  of  speech  when  a  steward 
knocked  at  the  door.     The  captain  called  him  in. 

*'  Harrison,"  he  asked,  "  were  you  one  of  the  stew- 
ards who  was  looking  after  Doctor  Gant.-^  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  the  man  replied. 

"  You  helped  to  carrj^  the  coffin  out,  didn't  you?  " 

*'  That's  so,  sir.  We  were  off  at  six  o'clock  this 
morning." 

"  Was  there  a  hearse  waiting?  " 

The  steward  shook  his  head. 

"  There  was  a  big  motor  car  outside,  sir.  We 
put  the  coffin  in  that  and  the  doctor  drove  off  with 
it  —  said  he  was  to  take  it  down  to  the  place  where 
the  man  had  lived,  for  burial." 

"  Do  you  know  where  that  was?  " 

"  No  idea,  sir." 

The  captain  glanced  towards  Brightman. 

*'  Do  you  want  to  ask  the  man  an^'  questions?  " 

*'  Questions  ?     No,  sir  I  "  the  detective  replied  bit- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     155 

terlj.  "  We've  been  done  —  that's  all  there  is  about 
it.  Never  mind,  they've  only  got  six  hours'  start. 
We'll  have  that  car  traced,  and  — " 

"  Does  any  one  know  what  time  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew 
left  the  steamer?"  Crawshay  interrupted. 

"  He  got  away  last  night,"  the  steward  replied. 
"  There  were  three  or  four  of  them  went  up  to  the 
Adelphi  to  sleep.  Some  of  them  came  back  for 
their  baggage  this  morning,  but  I  haven't  seen  Mr. 
Jocelyn  Thew." 

Katharine  rose  to  her  feet.  Her  tone  and  expres- 
sion were  impenetrable. 

"Am  I  still  suspect?  "  she  asked. 

Crawshay  glanced  at  Brightman,  who  shook  his 
head. 

"  There  is  no  charge  against  you.  Miss  Beverley," 
he  admitted  stiffly.  "  So  far  as  I  am  concerned,  you 
are  at  liberty  to  leave  the  ship  whenever  you  please." 

She  held  out  her  hand  to  the  captain. 

*'  I  can't  make  up  my  mind.  Captain,"  she  said, 
smiling  at  him  delightfully,  "  as  to  what  sort  of  a 
voyage  I  have  had  on  this  steamer,  but  I  do  con- 
gratulate you  on  that  escape  from  the  raider.  Good- 
by!" 

Crawshay  walked  with  her  along  the  deserted 
deck  as  far  as  the  gangway. 

"  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  offer  my  escort  any  fur- 
ther, Miss  Beverley,"  he  regretted.  "  I  must  have 
a  little  conversation  with  Brightman  here." 

"  Of  course,"  she  answered.  "  I  quite  understand. 
Perhaps  we  may  meet  in  London.  It  seems  a  pity, 
doesn't  it,"  she  went  on  sympathetically,  "  that  that 
wonderful  voyage  of  yours  was  taken  for  nothing? 


156     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Some  one  on  this  ship  has  been  very  clever  indeed." 
"  Some  one  has,"  Crawshay  replied  bitterly,  "  and 
you  and  I  both  know  who  it  is,  Miss  Beverley. 
But,"  he  went  on,  holding  the  gangway  railing  as 
she  turned  to  descend,  "  it's  only  the  first  part  of 
the  game  that's  over.  Our  friend  has  won  on  the 
sea,  but  I  have  an  idea  that  we  shall  have  him  on 
land.  We  shall  have  him  yet,  and  we'll  catch  him 
red-handed  if  I  have  anything  to  do  with  it.  Will 
you  wish  us  luck?  " 

She  turned  and  looked  at  him.  Her  lips  parted  as 
though  she  were  about  to  speak.  Instead  she  broke 
into  a  little  laugh,  and,  turning  away,  descended  the 
gangway.  From  the  dock  she  looked  up  again  at 
Crawshay. 

"  Do  come  and  look  me  up  if  you  are  in  town," 
she  begged.  "  I  shall  stay  at  Claridgc's,  and  I  shall 
be  interested  to  hear  how  you  get  on." 


CHAPTER  XVI 

The  City  of  Boston  docked  in  Liverpool  on  Sun- 
day night.  On  Tuesday,  at  five  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon, Crawshay,  who  had  been  waiting  at  Euston 
Station  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour  or  so,  almost 
dragged  Brightman  out  of  the  long  train  which  drew 
slowly  into  the  station. 

"  We'll  take  a  taxi  somewhere,"  the  former  said. 
"  It's  the  safest  place  to  talk  in.  Any  other  lug- 
gage? " 

"  Only  the  bag  I'm  carrying,"  the  detective  re- 
plied. "  I  have  got  some  more  stuff  coming  up,  if 
you  want  me  to  keep  on  this  job." 

"  I  think  I  shall,"  Crawshay  told  him.     "  I  want 
to  hear  how  you  got  on.     I  gathered  from  your  first 
telegram  that  you  were  on  the  track.     Where  did 
you  mean  to  stay.''  " 
"  I've  no  choice." 

"  The  Savoy,  then,"  Crawshay  decided.  "  Jocelyn 
Thew  is  staying  there,  and  you  may  be  able  to  keep 
an  eye  on  him.  Here  we  are.  Taxi?  —  Savoy!  — 
Now,  Brightman." 

"  You  don't  want  me  to  make  a  long  story  of  it, 
sir,"  Brightman  observed,  as  they  drove  off. 
"  Just  the  things  that  count,  that's  all." 
"  Well,  we  got  on  the  track  of  the  car  all  right," 
the  detective  began,  "  and  traced  it  to  a  small  vil- 
lage called  Frisby,  the  other  side  of  Chester,  and  to 


158     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Phillips,  a  woman  in  poor  cir- 
cumstances who  had  just  removed  from  Liverpool. 
She  was  the  widow,  all  right.  She  showed  us  letters, 
and  plenty  of  them,  from  her  husband  in  New  York. 
It  appears  that  Gant  alone  had  brought  the  coffin, 
which  was  left  at  the  cemetery,  and  the  funeral  will 
have  taken  place  this  afternoon.  Mrs.  Phillips  was 
full  of  his  praises,  and  it  seems  that  he  had  paid  her 
over  the  whole  of  the  money  you  spoke  about  —  five 
thousand  dollars." 

"  There  was  no  chicanery  so  far,  then,"  Craw- 
shay  observed.      "  The  man  was  dead,  of  course?  " 

"  Absolutely,"  Brightman  declared,  "  and  his  death 
seems  to  have  taken  place  exactly  according  to  the 
certificate.  Here  comes  the  point,  however.  With 
the  aid  of  the  local  police  and  the  doctor  whom  we 
called  in,  the  bandage  around  the  wound  was  re- 
moved. We  found  in  its  place  a  perfectly  fresh 
one,  bought  in  Liverpool,  not  in  the  least  resembling 
the  silk-lined  fragment  which  the  ship's  doctor 
brought  into  the  cabin." 

Crawshay  looked  gloomily  out  of  the  window. 

"  Well,  I  imagine  that  that  settles  the  question  of 
how  the  papers  got  into  England,"  he  sighed. 

"  Our  job,  I  suppose,"  the  detective  reminded 
him,  "  is  to  see  that  they  don't  get  out  again." 

"  Precisely !  " 

"  In  a  sense,"  Brightman  continued,  "  that  is  a 
toughish  job,  isn't  it,  because  whoever  has  them  now 
can  make  as  many  copies  as  he  chooses,  and  one  set 
would  be  certain  to  get  through." 

"  As  against  that,"  Crawshay  explained,  "  some 
of  the  most  valuable  documents  are  signed  letters,  of 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     159 

which  only  the  originals  would  be  worth  anything. 
There  are  also  some  exceedingly  complicated  dia- 
grams of  New  York  harbours,  a  plan  of  all  the  bat- 
tleships in  existence  and  projected,  a  wonderful  sub- 
marine destroyer,  and  a  new  heavy  gun.  These 
things  are  very  complicated,  and  to  carry  conviction 
must  be  in  the  original.  Besides  that,"  he  added, 
dropping  his  voice,  "  there  is  the  one  most  important 
thing  of  all,  but  of  which  as  yet  no  one  has  spoken, 
and  of  which  I  dare  scarcely  speak  even  to  you." 

"  Is  it  in  the  shape  of  a  drawing?  "  Brightman 
asked. 

"  It  is  not,"  was  the  whispered  reply.  "  It  is  a 
letter,  written  by  the  greatest  man  in  one  of  the 
greatest  countries  in  the  world,  to  the  greatest  per- 
sonage in  Europe.  There  is  a  secret  reward  offered 
of  half  a  million  dollars  for  the  return  of  that  letter 
alone." 

"  The  affair  seems  worth  looking  into,"  Bright- 
man  remarked,  stroking  his  little  black  moustache. 

*'  I  can  promise  you  that  the  governments  on  both 
sides  will  pay  handsomely,"  Crawshay  assured  him. 
"  I  have  had  my  chance  but  let  it  slip.  You  know 
I  had  my  training  at  Scotland  Yard,  but  out  in  the 
States  I  found  that  I  simply  had  to  forget  all  that 
I  knew.  Their  methods  are  entirely  different  from 
ours,  and  you  see  what  a  failure  I  have  made  of  it. 
I  have  let  them  get  away  with  the  papers  under  my 
very  nose." 

"  I  can't  see  that  you  were  very  much  to  blame, 
Mr.  Crawshay,"  the  detective  observed.  "  It  was  a 
unique  trick,  and  very  cleverly  worked  out." 

They  had  turned  off  the  main  thoroughfare  and 


i6o     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

were  now  brought  to  a  standstill  in  the  courtyard 
leading  to  the  Savoy.  Suddenly  Crawshay  gripped 
his  companion  by  the  arm  and  directed  his  attention 
to  a  man  who  was  buying  some  roses  in  the  florist's 
shop. 

"You  see  that  man?"  he  said.  "Watch  him 
carefully.     I'll  tell  you  why  when  we  get  inside." 

The  eyes  of  Mr.  Brightman  and  Jocelyn  Thew 
met  over  the  gorgeous  cluster  of  red  roses  which  the 
girl  was  in  the  act  of  removing  from  the  window,  and 
from  that  moment  the  struggle  which  was  to  come 
assumed  a  different  character.  Brightman's  thin 
mouth  seemed  to  have  tightened  until  the  line  of 
red  had  almost  disappeared.  There  was  a  flush  upon 
his  sallow  cheeks.  The  hand  which  was  gripping 
his  walking  stick  went  white  about  the  knickles.  But 
in  Jocelyn  Thew  there  was  no  change  save  a  littJe 
added  glitter  in  the  eyes.  There  was  nothing  else 
to  indicate  that  the  recognition  was  mutual. 

"Well,  what  about  him?"  Brightman  asked,  as 
their  taxicab  moved  on.  "  What  does  he  call  him- 
self? " 

"  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  is  his  name,"  Crawshay  re- 
plied. "  He  was  on  the  steamer.  It  is  he,  and  not 
Gant,  whom  we  have  to  make  for.  The  plot  which 
we  have  to  unravel,  which  Gant  and  Phillips,  and, 
unwittingly.  Miss  Beverley  carried  through,  was  of 
his  scheming." 

"  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew,"  the  detective  repeated  as 
they  passed  through  the  swing  doors.  "  So  that  is 
how  he  calls  himself  now !  " 

"  You  know  him  ?  " 

"Know     him!"     Brightman     repeated     bitterly. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      i6i 

"  The  last  time  I  saw  him  I  could  have  sworn  that 
I  had  him  booked  for  Sing  Sing  prison.  He  got  out 
of  it,  as  he  always  has  done.  Some  one  else  paid. 
It  was  the  greatest  failure  I  had  when  I  was  in  the 
States.      So  he  is  in  this  thing,  is  he?  " 

"  He  is  not  only  very  much  in  it,"  Grawshay  re- 
pliedj  *'  but  he  is  the  brains  of  the  whole  expedition. 
He  is  the  man  to  whom  Gant  delivered  those  docu- 
ments some  time  last  night." 

They  found  two  easy-chairs  in  the  smoking  room 
and  ordered  cocktails.  Mr.  Brightman  sat  forward 
in  his  chair.  He  was  one  of  those  men  whose  indi- 
viduality seems  to  rise  to  any  call  made  upon  it.  He 
was  indifferently  dressed,  by  no  means  good-looking, 
and  he  had  started  life  as  a  policeman.  Jugt  now, 
however,  he  seemed  to  sink  quite  naturally  into  his 
surroundings.  Nothing  about  his  appearance  seemed 
worthy  of  note  except  the  determination  of  his  very 
dogged  mouth. 

"  I  accepted  your  commission  a  short  time  ago, 
Mr.  Grawshay,"  he  said,  "  with  the  interest  which 
one  always  feels  in  Government  business  of  a  re- 
munerative character.  I  tell  you  now  that  I  would 
have  taken  it  on  eagerly  if  there  had  not  been  a 
penny  hanging  to  it.  I  can't  tell  you  exactly  why 
I  feel  so  bitterly  about  him,  but  if  I  can  really  get 
my  hands  on  to  the  man  who  calls  himself  Jocelyn 
Thew,  it  will  be  one  of  the  happiest  days  of  my 
life." 

"  You  really  know  something  about  him,  then.'' 
He  really  is  a  bad  lot.?  "  Grawshay  asked  eagerly. 

"  The  worst  that  ever  breathed,"  Brightman  de- 
clared,  "  the  bravest,    coolest,   best-bred   scoundrel 


i62     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

who  ever  mocked  the  guardians  of  the  law.  M  ,.< 
you,  I  am  not  saying  that  he  hasn't  done  o>ie> 
things.  He  has  travelled  and  fought  in  many  coun- 
tries, but  when  he  comes  back  to  cilivisation  he  can't 
rest.  The  world  has  to  hear  of  him.  Things  move 
in  New  York  underground.  The  moment  he  takec 
rooms  at  the  Carlton-Ritz,  things  happen  in  a  way 
that  they  have  never  happened  before,  and  we  know 
that  there's  genius  at  the  back  of  it  all,  and  Jocelyn 
Thew  smiles  in  our  faces.  I  tell  you  that  if  any- 
thing could  have  kept  me  in  America,  although  I  very 
much  prefer  Liverpool,  the  chance  of  laying  my 
hands  on  this  man  would  have  done  it." 

Through  the  swing  doors,  almost  as  Brightman 
had  concluded  his  speech,  came  Jocelyn  Thew.  He 
was  dressed  in  light  tweeds,  carefully  fashioned  by 
an  English  tailor.  His  tie  and  collar,  his  grey  Hom- 
burg  hat  with  its  black  band,  his  beautifully  polished 
and  not  too  new  brown  shoes,  were  exactly  according 
to  the  decrees  of  Bond  Street.  He  seemed  to  be  mak- 
ing his  way  to  the  bar,  but  at  the  sight  of  them  he 
paused  and  strolled  across  the  room  towards  them. 

"  Getting  your  land  legs,  Mr.  Crawshay.'*  "  he  en- 
quired. 

"  Pretty  well,  thank  you.  You  finished  your  busi- 
ness in  Liverpool  quickly,  I  see." 

"  More  urgent  business  brought  me  to  London.  I 
dined  and  spent  last  evening,  by-the-by,  with  Doctor 
Gant  —  the  doctor  who  was  in  attendance  upon  that 
poor  fellow  who  died  on  the  way  over." 

"  A  very  ingenious  gentleman,"  Crawshay  observed 
drily. 

"Ah!   you   appreciate   that,   do    you.''"   Jocelyn 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     163 

Thew  replied,  with  a  faint  smile.  "  You  should  go 
and  cultivate  his  acquaintance.  He  is  staying  over 
at  the  Regent  Palace  Hotel." 

"  One  doesn't  always  attach  oneself  to  the  wrong 
person,  Mr.  Thew." 

"  Even  the  stupidest  people  in  the  world,"  Jocelyn 
Thew  agreed,  "  can  scarcely  make  mistakes  all  the 
time,  can  they?  By  the  way,"  he  went  on,  turning 
towards  the  detective,  "  is  it  my  fancy  or  have  I  not 
had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  Mr.  Brightman  in  Amer- 
ica.'' I  fancied  so  when  I  saw  him  board  the  steamer 
in  the  Mersey  on  Sunday,  but  it  did  not  fall  to  my 
lot  to  receive  the  benefit  of  his  offices." 

"  I  was  just  telling  Mr.  Crawshay  that  I  had  had 
the  pleasure  of  professional  dealings  with  you," 
Brightman  said  drily.  "  I  was  also  lamenting  the 
fact  that  they  had  not  ended  according  to  my  de- 
sires." 

"  Mr.  Brightman  was  always  ambitious,"  the  new- 
comer observed,  with  gentle  satire.  "  He  is,  I  am 
sure,  a  most  persevering  and  intelligent  member  of 
his  profession,  but  he  flies  high." 

"  I  am  much  obliged  for  your  commendation," 
Brightman  said  bluntly.  "  As  regards  professions, 
I  was  just  explaining  to  Mr.  Crawshay  that  you  were 
almost  at  the  top  of  the  tree  in  yours." 

"  If  you  have  discovered  my  profession,"  Jocelyn 
Thew  replied,  "  you  have  succeeded  where  my  dearest 
friends  have  failed.  Pray  do  not  make  a  secret  of 
it,  Mr.  Brightman." 

"  I  have  heard  you  called  an  adventurer,"  was 
the  prompt  reply. 

"  It  is  a  term  with  which  I  will  not  quarrel,"  Joce- 


i64     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

lyn  declared.  "  I  certainly  am  one  of  those  who 
appreciate  adventures,  who  have  no  pleasure  in  sit- 
ting down  in  these  grey-walled,  fog-hung  cities,  and 
crawling  about  with  one's  nose  on  the  pavements 
like  a  dog  following  an  unclean  smell.  No,  that  has 
not  been  my  life.  I  have  sought  fortune  in  most 
quarters  of  the  globe,  sometimes  found  it  and  some- 
times lost  it,  sometimes  with  one  weapon  in  my  hand 
and  sometimes  with  another.  So  perhaps  you  are 
right,  Mr.  Brightman,  when  you  call  me  an  adven- 
turer." 

"  These  very  uncomfortable  times,"  Crawshay  re- 
marked, "  rather  limit  the  sphere  in  which  one  may 
look  for  stirring  events." 

"  You  are  wrong,  believe  me,"  Jocelyn  Thew  re- 
plied earnestly.  "  The  stories  of  the  Arabian  Nights 
would  seem  tame,  if  one  had  the  power  of  seeing 
what  goes  on  around  us  in  the  most  unsuspected 
places.  But  we  are  digressing.  Mr.  Brightman 
and  I  were  speaking  together.  It  occurred  to  me, 
from  what  he  said,  that  he  has  not  quite  the  right 
idea  as  to  my  aspirations,  as  to  the  place  I  desire  to 
fill  in  life.  I  shall  try  to  give  him  an  opportunity 
to  form  a  saner  judgment." 

"  It  will  give  me  the  utmost  pleasure  to  accept  it," 
the  detective  confessed,  with  ill-concealed  acerbity. 

Jocelyn  Thew  sighed  lightly.  He  had  seated  him- 
self upon  the  arm  of  a  neighbouring  easy-chair  and 
was  resting  his  hand  upon  the  head  of  a  cane  he 
was  carrying. 

"  If  our  friend  Brightman  here  has  a  fault,"  he 
said,  "  in  the  execution  of  his  daily  duties,  it  is  that 
he  brings  to  bear  into  his  task  a  certain  amount  of 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     165 

prejudice,  from  which  the  mind  of  the  ideal  detector 
of  crime  should  be  free.  Now  you  would  scarcely  be- 
lieve it,  Mr.  Crawshay,  I  am  sure,  to  judge  from  his 
amiable  exterior,  but  Mr.  Brightman  is  capable  of 
very  strong  dislikes,  of  one  of  which,  alas !  I  am  the 
object.  Now  this  is  not  as  it  should  be.  You  see 
what  might  happen,  supposing  Mr.  Brightman  were 
engaged  to  watch  a  little  coterie,  or,  in  plainer  par- 
lance, a  little  gang  of  supposed  misdemeanants.  If 
by  any  possible  stretch  of  his  imagination  he  could 
connect  me  with  them,  I  should  be  the  one  he  would 
go  for  all  the  time,  and  although  I  perhaps  carry  my 
fair  burden  of  those  peccadilloes  to  which  the  law, 
rightly  or  wrongly,  takes  exception,  still,  in  this  par- 
ticular instance  I  might  be  the  innocent  one,  and  in 
Mr.  Brightman's  too  great  eagerness  to  fasten  evil 
things  upon  me,  the  real  culprit  might  escape. — 
Thank  you,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  added,  accepting  the 
cocktail  which  the  waiter  had  presented.  "  Let  us 
drink  a  little  toast  together.  Shall  we  say  *  Success 
to  Mr.  Brightman's  latest  enterprise,  whatever  it 
may  be  ! '  " 

Crawshay  glanced  at  his  companion. 

"  I  think  we  can  humour  our  friend  by  drinking 
that  toast,  Brightman,"  he  said. 

"  I  shall  drink  it  with  great  pleasure,"  the  de- 
tective agreed. 

They  set  down  their  empty  glasses.  Jocelyn  Thew 
rose  regretfully  to  his  feet. 

"  I  fear,"  he  said,  "  that  I  must  tear  myself  away. 
We  shall  meet  again,  I  trust.  And,  Mr.  Brightman, 
a  word  with  you.  If  you  are  in  town  for  a  holiday, 
if  you  have  no  business  to  worry  you  just  at  present. 


i66     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

why  not  practise  on  me  for  a  time?  Watch  me. 
Find  out  the  daily  incidents  of  my  life.  See  what 
company  I  keep,  where  I  spend  my  spare  time  — 
you  know  —  and  all  the  rest  of  it.  I  can  assure  you 
that  although  I  am  not  the  great  criminal  you  fancy 
me,  I  am  a  most  interesting  person  to  study.  Take 
my  advice,  Mr.  Brightman.  Keep  your  eye  upon 
me." 

They  watched  him  on  the  way  to  the  door  —  a 
little  languid  but  exceedingly  pleasant  to  look  upon, 
exceedingly  distinguished  and  prepossessing.  A  look 
of  half  unwilling  admiration  crept  into  Brightman's 
face. 

"  Whatever  that  man  really  may  be,"  he  declared, 
"  he  is  a  great  artist." 

The  swing  door  leading  from  the  room  into  the 
cafe  was  pushed  open,  and  a  woman  entered.  She 
stood  for  a  moment  looking  around  until  her  eyes  fell 
upon  Jocelyn  Thew.  Crawshay  suddenly  gripped 
the  detective's  arm. 

"Is  there  anything  for  us  in  this,  my  friend?" 
he  whispered.     "  Watch  Jocelyn  Thew's  face !  " 


CHAPTER  XVn 

For  a  few  seconds  Jocelya  Thew  was  certainly 
taken  aback.  His  little  start,  his  lOok  of  blank  as- 
tonishment, were  coupled  with  a  certain  loss  of  poise 
which  Crawshay  had  been  quick  to  note.  But,  after 
all,  the  interlude  was  brief  enough. 

"Exactly  what  does  this  mean,  Nora?"  he  de- 
manded. 

Her  vivid  brown  eyes  were  fastened  upon  his  face, 
eager  to  understand  his  attitude,  a  little  defiant,  a 
little  appealing.  There  was  nothing  to  be  gath- 
ered from  his  expression,  however.  After  that  first 
moment  he  was  entirely  himself  —  well-mannered,  un- 
emotional, cold. 

"  I  came  over  on  the  Baltic  "  she  explained,  "  I 
guessed  I'd  find  you  here.  Fourteenth  Street  was 
getting  a  little  sultry.  The  old  man  hopped  it  to 
San  Francisco  the  day  you  left." 

"  Sit  down,"  he  invited. 

They  found  places  on  a  lounge  and  were  served 
with  cocktails.  The  girl  sipped  hers  disapprov- 
ingly. 

"Rum  stuff,  this,"  she  declared.  "I  guess  Fll 
have  to  get  my  shaker  out." 

"  You  are  staying  here,  then?  "  he  enquired. 

"Why  not?"  she  replied,  with  a  faint  note  of 
truculence  in  her  tone.     "  You  know  I'm  not  short 


i68     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

of  money,  and  I  guessed  it  was  where  I  should  find 
you." 

He  raised  his  eyebrows. 

"  That  is  very  nice  and  companionable  of  you," 
he  said,  "  and  naturally  I  shall  be  very  glad  to  be  of 
any  assistance  possible  whilst  you  are  over  here,  but 
I  hope  you  will  remember,  Nora,  that  I  did  not  en- 
courage you  to  come." 

"  I'm  wise  enough  about  that,"  she  admitted.  "  I 
never  expected  you  to  care  two  pins  whether  you  ever 
saw  me  again  or  not,  and  I  know  quite  well,"  she 
went  on  hastily,  "  that  I  haven't  any  right  to  follow 
you,  or  anything  of  that  sort.  But  honestly,  Mr. 
Thew,  we  were  being  watched  down  there,  and  New 
York  wasn't  exactly  healthy." 

He  nodded. 

"  Yes,"  he  assented,  "  no  douDt  you  are  right. 
They  have  awkward  methods  of  cross-examination 
there,  although  I  don't  think  they'd  get  much  out 
of  you,  Nora." 

"  I'd  no  fancy  to  have  them  try,"  she  admitted. 
"  Besides,  I've  never  had  that  trip  to  Europe  that 
uncle  and  I  were  always  talking  about,  and  it  seemed 
to  me  that  if  I  wanted  to  see  the  old  country  whole, 
now  or  never  was  the  time.  You  may  all  be  a  Ger- 
man colony  over  here  by  next  year." 

"  I  have  no  right  or  any  desire,"  he  told  her 
quietly,  "  to  interfere  in  any  way  with  your  plans, 
but  I  must  warn  you  that  just  at  present  I  am  liv- 
ing in  the  utmost  jeopardy.  I  have  no  friends  to 
whom  I  can  introduce  you,  nor  any  of  my  own  time 
or  attentions  to  offer.  Unless  j'ou  choose  to  exer- 
cise tact,  I  might  find  your  presence  here  not  only 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     169 

embarrassing  but  a  positive  hindrance  to  my  plans." 

"  I  guess  I  can  lie  close,"  she  replied,  looking  at 
him  through  half-closed  eyes.  "  Just  how  am  I  to 
size  that  up,  though?  " 

He  looked  at  her  appraisingly,  a  little  cruelly. 
The  effect  of  her  beautiful  figure  was  almost  ruined 
by  the  cheap  and  unbecoming  clothes  in  which  she 
was  attired.  Her  hat,  with  its  huge  hatpins  and 
ultra-fashionable  height,  was  hideous.  She  exuded 
perfumes.  Her  silk  stockings  and  suede  shoes  were 
the  only  reasonable  things  about  her.  The  former 
she  was  displaying  with  some  recklessness  as  she 
leaned  back  upon  the  settee. 

"  I  once  told  you,"  he  said  calmly,  "  that  there  was 
no  woman  in  the  world  for  whom  I  felt  the  slightest 
affection." 

"Well.?" 

"  That  is  no  longer  the  case." 

Her  eyes  glittered. 

«  Who  is  she.?  " 

**  It  is  not  necessary  for  you  to  know,"  he  an- 
swered coldly.  "  She  happens,  however,  to  be  con- 
cerned in  the  business  which  I  have  on  hand.  She 
has  been  of  great  assistance  to  me,  and  she  may  yet 
be  the  means  of  helping  me  to  final  success.  I  cannot 
afford  to  have  her  upset  by  any  false  impressions." 

She  looked  at  him  almost  wonderingly. 

"  If  you're  not  the  limit !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Noth- 
ing matters  to  you  except  to  succeed.  You  tell  me 
in  one  breath  that  you  care  for  a  woman  for  the 
first  time  in  your  life,  and  in  the  next  you  speak  of 
using  her  as  your  tool !  " 

"  You  perhaps  find  that  incomprehensible,"  he  ob- 


170     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

served.  "  I  do  not  blame  you.  At  present,  however, 
I  have  only  one  object  in  life,  and  that  is  to  succeed 
in  the  business  I  have  on  hand.  Whatever  I  may 
find  it  necessary  to  do  to  attain  my  ends,  I  shall  do." 

She  had  gone  a  little  pale,  and  her  white  teeth  were 
holding  down  her  full  under  lip. 

"  Buy  me  another  cocktail,"  she  demanded. 

He  obeyed,  and  she  drank  it  at  a  gulp. 

"  So  you  are  not  going  to  be  nice  to  me.''  "  she 
asked  in  a  low  tone. 

"  That  depends  upon  what  you  call  nice,"  he  an- 
swered. "  I  am  rather  up  against  a  blank  wall. 
Even  if  I  succeed,  I  remain  in  this  country  at  very 
considerable  personal  danger.  I  am  not  sure  that 
even  for  your  sake,  Nora,  it  is  well  for  you  to  asso- 
ciate with  me.  Why  not  go  home?  You'll  find  some 
of  your  people  still  there  —  and  an  old  sweetheart  or 
two,  very  likely." 

"  It  isn't  a  very  warm  welcome,"  she  remarked,  a 
little  wistfully. 

"  You  have  taken  me  by  surprise,"  he  reminded 
her.     "  I  had  not  the  slightest  idea  of  your  coming." 

"  I  know  that,"  she  sighed.  "  I  suppose  I  ought 
not  to  have  hoped  for  anything  more.  You've  never 
been  any  different  to  me  than  to  any  of  the  others. 
You  treat  us  all,  men  and  women,  just  alike.  You 
are  gracious  or  cold,  just  according  to  how  much  we 
can  help.  I  sometimes  wonder,  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew, 
whether  you  have  a  heart  at  all." 

For  a  single  moment  he  looked  at  her  kindly.  His 
hand  even  patted  hers.  It  was  a  curious  revela- 
tion.    He  was  a  kindly  ordinary  human  being. 

"  Ah,  Nora,"  he  said,  "  I  am  not  quite  so  bad  as 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      171 

that !  But  for  many  years  I  have  had  a  great,  driv- 
ing impulse  inside  me,  and  at  the  back  of  it  the  most 
wonderful  incentive  in  all  the  world.  You  know  what 
that  is,  Nora  —  or  perhaps  you  don't.  To  a  woman 
it  would  be  love,  I  suppose.     To  a  man  it  is  hate." 

She  drew  a  little  further  away  from  him,  as  though 
something  which  had  flamed  in  his  eyes  for  a  moment 
had  frightened  her. 

"  Yes,"  she  murmured,  "  you  are  like  that." 

Jocelyn  Thew  was  himself  again  almost  at  once. 

"  Since  we  understand  one  another,  Nora,"  he 
said,  a  little  more  kindly,  "  let  me  tell  you  that  I  am 
really  very  glad  to  see  you,  although  you  did  give 
me  rather  a  shock  just  now.  I  want  you,  if  you 
will,  to  turn  your  head  to  the  left.  You  see  those 
two  men  —  one  seated  in  tjie  easj^-chair  and  the  other 
on  its  arm.''  " 

"  I  see  them." 

"  They  are  the  two  men,"  he  continued,  "  who  are. 
out  to  spoil  my  show  if  they  can.  You  may  see  them 
again  under  very  different  circumstances." 

"  I  shan't  forget,"  she  murmured.  "  The  dark  one 
looks  like  Brightman,  the  detective  you  were  up 
against  in  that  Fall  River  business  —  the  man  who 
believed  that  you  were  the  High  Priest  of  crime  in 
New  York." 

"  You  have  a  good  memory,"  he  remarked.  "  It 
is  the  same  man." 

"  And  the  other,"  she  continued,  with  a  sudden 
added  interest  in  her  tone  — "  Why,  that's  the  Eng- 
lishman who  had  me  turned  off  from  the  hotel  in 
Washington.  Don't  you  remember,  I  went  there  for 
a  month  on  trial  as  telephone  operator,  just  before 


172     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

the  election?  You  remember  why.  That  English- 
man was  always  dropping  in.  Used  to  bring  me 
flowers  now  and  then,  but  I  felt  certain  from  the 
first  he  was  suspicious.  He  got  me  turned  off  just 
as  things  were  getting  interesting." 

"  Right  again,"  Jocelyn  Thcw  told  her.  "  His 
name  is  Crawshay.  He  is  the  man  who  was  sent  out 
from  Scotland  Yard  to  the  English  Embassy.  He 
crossed  with  me  on  the  steamer.  We  had  our  first 
little  bout  there." 

"Who  won.?" 

"  The  first  trick  fell  to  me,"  he  acknowledged 
grimly. 

"  And  so  will  the  second  and  the  third,"  she  mur- 
mured. "  He  may  be  brainy,  though  he  doesn't  look 
it  with  that  monacle  and  the  peering  way  he  has,  but 
you're  too  clever  for  them  all,  Jocelyn  Thew.  You'll 
win." 

He  snu'lcd  very  faintly. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  this  time  I  have  to  win  or  throw 
in  my  chips.  Now  if  you  like  we'll  have  some  lunch, 
and  afterwards,  if  you'll  forgive  my  taking  the  lib- 
erty of  mentioning  it,  you  had  better  buy  some 
clothes." 

"You  don't  like  this  black  silk?"  she  asked  wist- 
fully. "  I  got  it  at  a  store  up-town,  and  they  told 
me  these  sort  of  skirts  were  all  tlie  rage  over 
here." 

"  Well,  you  can  see  for  yourself  they  aren't,"  he 
remarked,  a  little  drily.  "  London  is  a  queer  place 
in  many  ways,  especially  about  clothes.  You're 
either  right  or  you're  wrong,  and  you've  got  to  be 
right,  Nora.     We'll  see  about  it  presently." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     173 

They  left  the  room  together.  Crawshay  looked 
mfter  them  with  interest. 

"  This  affair,"  he  told  his  companion,  "  grows 
hourly  more  and  more  interesting.  You've  been  up 
against  Jocelyn  Thew,  you  tell  me.  Well,  I  am  per- 
fectly certain  that  that  girl,  whose  coming  gave  him 
such  a  start,  was  a  young  woman  I  had  turned  away 
from  an  hotel  in  Washington.  She  was  in  the  game 
then  —  more  locally,  perhaps,  but  still  in  the  same 
game.  I  used  to  sit  and  talk  to  her  in  the  after- 
noons sometimes.  Finest  brown  eyes  I  ever  saw  in 
my  life.  I  wonder  if  there  is  anything  between  her 
and  Jocelyn  Thew,"  he  added,  looking  through  the 
door  with  a  faintly  disapproving  note  in  his  tone, — 
a  note  which  a  woman  would  have  recognised  at  once 
as  jealous}'. 

"  If  you  ask  me,  I  should  say  no,"  the  other  an- 
swered. "  I've  kept  tabs  on  Jocelyn  Thew  for  a 
bit,  and  I've  had  his  dossier.  There's  never  been  a 
woman's  name  mentioned  in  connection  with  him  — 
don't  seem  as  though  he'd  ever  moved  round  or  taken 
a  meal  with  one  all  the  time  he  was  in  New  York. 
To  tell  you  the  truth,  Mr.  Crawshay,  that's  just 
what  makes  it  so  difficult  to  get  your  hands  on  a 
man  you  want.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  it's  through 
the  women  we  get  home.  The  man  who  stands  clear 
of  them  has  an  extra  chance  or  two  —  Say,  what 
time  this  evening?  " 

"  Come  to  my  rooms  at  178,  St.  James's  Street,  at 
seven  o'clock,"  Crawshay  directed.  "  I've  a  little 
investigation  to  make  before  then." 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Crawshay  took  a  taxicab  from  the  Savoy  to 
Claridge's  Hotel,  sent  up  his  card  and  was  conducted 
to  Katharine  Beverley's  sitting  room  on  the  first 
floor.  She  kept  him  waiting  for  a  few  moments,  and 
he  felt  a  sudden  instinct  of  curiosity  as  he  noticed 
the  great  pile  of  red  roses  which  a  maid  had  only 
just  finished  arranging.  When  she  came  in,  he 
looked  towards  her  in  surprise.  She  appeared  to 
have  grown  thinner,  and  there  were  dark  rims  under 
her  e3'es.  Her  words  of  greeting  were  colourless. 
She  seemed  almost  afraid  to  meet  his  steady  gaze. 

"  I  ought  to  apologise  for  calling  in  the  morning," 
he  said,  "  but  I  ventured  to  do  so,  hoping  that  you 
would  come  out  and  have  some  lunch  with  me." 

*'  I  really  don't  feel  well  enough,"  she  replied. 
"  London  is  not  agreeing  with  me  at  all." 

"You  are  ill.''"  he  exclaimed,  with  some  concern. 

She  looked  at  the  closed  door  through  wiiich  the 
maid  had  issued. 

"  Not  exactly  ill.  I  have  some  anxieties,"  she 
answered.  "  It  is  kind  of  you  to  keep  your  promise 
and  come.  Please  tell  me  exactly  what  happened.^ 
You  know  how  interested  I  am." 

"  I  have  unfortunately  nothing  to  report  but  fail- 
ure," he  replied.  "  Everything  seems  to  have  hap- 
pened exactly  as  the  doctor  on  the  ship  suggested. 
The  detectives  at  Liverpool  were  quite  smart.     We 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     175 

were  able  to  trace  the  car  without  much  difficulty, 
and  the  body  of  your  patient  Phillips  was  found  at 
his  home,  the  other  side  of  Chester.  We  obtained 
permission  to  make  an  examination,  and  we  found 
that,  just  as  we  expected,  fresh  bandages  had  been 
put  on  only  a  few  hours  previously." 

"And  Doctor  Gant?  " 

"  He  is  at  an  hotel  in  London.  He  is  watched 
night  and  day,  but  he  seems  to  divide  his  time  between 
genuine  sight-seeing  and  trying  to  arrange  for  his 
passage  home.  Naturally,  the  whole  of  his  effects 
have  been  searched,  but  without  the  slightest  result." 

"  And  —  and  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew.?  " 

"  His  business  in  Liverpool  seems  to  have  detained 
him  a  very  short  time.  He  is  staying  now  at  the 
Savoy  Hotel.  Needless  to  say,  his  effects  too  have 
been  thoroughly  searched,  without  result." 

"You  know  that  he  sent  me  these?"  she  asked, 
glancing  towards  the  roses. 

"  I  saw  him  buying  them." 

Her  fingers  had  strayed  over  one  of  the  blossoms, 
and  he  noticed  that  while  they  talked  she  was  con- 
vulsively crushing  it  into  pulp. 

"  Were  these  detectives  from  Liverpool,"  she  asked, 
"  able  to  keep  any  watch  upon  Doctor  Gant  and  Mr. 
Jocelyn  Thew  after  —  Chester.^  " 

"  To  some  extent.  There  is  no  doubt  that  Jocelyn 
Thew  spent  the  first  night  in  Liverpool.  After  that 
he  travelled  to  London  and  took  up  his  residence  at 
the  Savoy.  Here  Doctor  Gant,  who  had  travelled 
up  from  Chester,  called  upon  him,  late  in  the  after- 
noon of  the  day  of  his  arrival.  They  spent  some 
time  together,  and  subsequently  the  doctor  took  a 


176     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

room  at  the  Regent  Palace  Hotel.  The  two  men 
dined  together  at  the  Savoy  grill,  and  took  a  box  at 
the  Alhambra  music-hall,  where  they  spent  the  eve- 
ning. They  appear  to  have  returned  to  Jocelyn 
Thew's  rooms,  had  a  whisky  and  soda  each  and  sep- 
arated. There  is  no  record  of  their  having  spoken 
to  any  other  person  or  visited  any  other  place." 

"  And  their  rooms  have  been  searched?  " 

"  By  the  most  skilled  men  we  have." 

She  pulled  another  of  the  roses  to  pieces. 

"  So  it  comes  to  this,"  she  said.  "  All  these  docu- 
ments, of  whose  existence  both  you  and  the  American 
police  knew,  have  been  brought  from  America  to 
England,  and  even  now  you  cannot  locate  them." 

"  At  present  we  cannot,"  he  confessed  drily,  "  but 
I  am  not  prepared  to  admit  for  a  single  moment  that 
they  are  ever  likely  to  reach  their  destination." 

"  Jocelyn  Thew  is  very  clever,"  she  reminded  him 
calmly. 

"  I  am  tired  of  being  told  so,"  he  replied,  with  a 
touch  of  irritation  in  his  tone. 

She  smiled. 

"  You  probably  need  your  luncheon !  If  you  care 
to  come  down-stairs  with  me,"  she  invited,  "  we  can 
finish  our  conversation." 

"  I  shall  be  only  too  pleased." 

Katharine  Beverley's  table  was  in  a  quiet  corner, 
and  she  sat  with  her  back  to  the  window,  but  even 
under  such  circumstances  the  change  in  her  during 
the  last  few  days  was  noticeable.  Tliere  was  a 
frightened  light  in  her  eyes,  her  cheeks  were  entirely 
colourless,  her  hands  seemed  almost  transparent. 
Such  a  change  in  so  short  a  time  seemed  almost  in- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      177 

credible.     Crawshay  found  himself  unable  to  ignore 
it. 

"  I  am  very  sorry  to  see  you  looking  so  unwell," 
he  observed  sympatheticall}^  "  I  am  afraid  the 
shock  of  your  voyage  across  the  Atlantic  has  been 
too  much  for  you." 

"  I  am  terribW  disturbed,"  she  confessed.  "  I  am 
disappointed,  too,  in  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew.  One  hates 
to  be  made  use  of  so  flagrantly." 

"  You  really  knew  nothing,  then,  until  those  things 
were  discovered  in  your  stateroom?  " 

"  That  question,"  she  replied,  "  I  am  not  going  to 
answer." 

"But  the  main  part  of  the  plot?"  he  persisted, 
"  the  bandages?  " 

"  Doctor  Gant  never  allowed  me  to  touch  them. 
That  is  what  I  found  so  inexplicable, —  what  first  set 
me  wondering." 

"  The  whole  scheme  was  very  cleverly  thought  out," 
Crawshay  pronounced,  "  but  if  you  will  forgive  my 
repeating  a  previous  speculation.  Miss  Beverley,  the 
greatest  mystery  about  it  all,  to  me,  is  how  you,  Miss 
Katharine  Beverley,  whose  name  and  reputation  in 
New  York  stands  so  high,  were  induced  to  leave  your 
work,  your  social  engagements  and  your  home,  at  a 
time  like  this,  when  your  country  really  has  claims 
upon  you,  to  act  as  ordinary  sick  nurse  to  a  New 
York  clerk  of  humble  means  who  turns  out  to  have 
been  nothing  but  the  tool  of  Jocelyn  Thew." 

"  I  am  still  unable  to  explain  that,"  she  told  him. 

He  realised  the  state  of  tension  in  which  she  was 
and  suddenly  abandoned  the  whole  subject.  He 
spoke  of  the  theatres,  asked  of  her  friends  in  town. 


178     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

discussed  the  news  of  the  day,  and  made  no  further 
allusion  of  any  sort  to  the  mystery  which  surrounded 
them.  It  was  not  until  after  they  had  been  served 
with  their  coffee  in  the  lounge  that  he  reverted  to 
more  serious  matters. 

"  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  for  your  own  sake  I 
am  exceedingly  unwilling  to  leave  you  like  this.  I 
may  seem  to  you  to  be  an  inquisitor,  but  believe  me 
I  am  a  friendly  one.  I  cannot  see  that  you  have 
anything  to  lose  in  being  frank  with  me.  I  wish  to 
help  you.  I  wish  to  relieve  the  anxiety  from  which 
I  know  that  you  are  suffering.  Give  me  your  confi- 
dence." 

"  You  ask  a  very  difficult  thing,"  she  sighed. 

"  Difficult  but  not  impossible,"  he  insisted.  "  I 
can  quite  understand  that  your  discovery  of  the  fact 
that  you  had  been  made  use  of  to  assist  in  the  bring- 
ing to  England  of  treasonable  documents  is  of  itself 
likely  to  be  a  severe  shock  to  you,  but,  if  you  will 
permit  me  to  say  so,  it  is  not  sufficient  to  account 
for  your  present  state  of  nerves." 

"  You  don't  know  all  that  is  happening,"  she  re- 
plied, in  some  agitation.  "  There  is  a  very  astute 
lady  detective  who  has  a  room  near  mine,  and  a  man 
who  shadows  me  every  time  I  come  in  or  go  out.  I 
am  expecting  every  moment  that  the  manager  will 
ask  me  to  leave  the  hotel." 

"  That  is  all  very  annoying,  of  course,"  he  ac- 
knowledged sympathetically,  "  and  yet  I  believe  that 
at  the  back  of  your  head  there  is  still  something  else 
troubling  you." 

"  You  are  very  observant,"  she  murmured. 

"  In  your  case,"  he  replied,  "  close  observation  is 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     179 

scarcely  necessary.  Why,  It  is  only  four  days  since 
we  left  the  steamer,  and  you  look  simply  the  wreck 
of  yourself." 

"  A  great  deal  has  happened  since  then,"  she  con- 
fessed. 

He  seized  upon  the  admission. 

"  You  see,  I  was  right. —  There  is  something 
else !  Miss  Beverley,  I  am  your  friend.  You  must 
confide  in  me." 

"  It  would  be  useless,"  she  assured  him  sadly. 

"  You  cannot  be  sure  of  that,"  he  insisted.  "  If 
this  espionage  gets  on  your  nerves,  I  believe  that  I 
have  influence  enough  to  have  it  removed,  provided 
that  you  will  let  me  bring  a  friend  of  mine  to  see 
you  here  and  ask  you  a  few  questions." 

She  shook  her  head. 

**  It  is  not  the  espionage  alone,"  she  declared.  "  I 
am  confronted  with  something  altogether  different, 
something  about  which  I  cannot  speak." 

"  Is  this  man  Jocelyn  Thew  connected  with  it  in 
any  way  ?  "  he  demanded. 

She  winced. 

"Why  should  you  ask  that  question?" 

*'  Because  it  is  perfectly  clear,"  he  continued, 
"  that  Jocelyn  Thew  exercises  some  sort  of  unholy 
influence  over  you,  an  influence,  I  may  add,  which  it 
is  ray  intention  to  destroy." 

She  smiled  bitterly. 

"  If  you  can  destroy  anything  that  Jocelyn  Thew 
means  to  keep  alive,"  she  began  — 

"  Oh,  please  don't  believe  that  Jocelyn  Thew  is 
infallible,"  he  interrupted.  "  I  have  had  a  long  ex- 
perience of  diplomatists  and  plotters  and  even  crim- 


i8o     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

inals,  and  I  can  assure  you  that  no  man  breathing 
is  possessed  of  more  than  ordinary  human  powers. 
Jocelyn  Thew  has  brought  it  off  against  us  this 
time,  but  then,  you  see,  one  must  lose  a  trick  now 
and  then.     It  is  the  next  step  which  counts." 

"  Oh,  the  next  step  will  be  all  right !  "  she  replied, 
with  a  hard  little  laugh.  *'  He  has  brought  his  spoils 
to  England,  although  there  must  have  been  twenty 
or  thirty  detectives  on  board,  and  you  won't  be 
able  to  stop  his  disposing  of  them  exactly  as  he 
likes." 

"  I  don't  acrree  with  you,"  he  assured  her  confi- 
dently. "  That,  however,  is  not  what  I  want  to  talk 
about.  You  are  in  a  false  position.  In  the  strug- 
gle which  is  going  on  now,  your  heart  and  soul  should 
be  with  us  and  against  Jocelyn  Thew." 

Her  eyes  were  lit  with  a  momentary  terror. 

"  You  don't  suppose  for  a  moment,"  she  said, 
"  that  my  sympathies  are  not  with  my  own  country 
and  our  joint  cause?  " 

"  I  don't,"  he  replied.  "  On  the  other  hand,  your 
actions  should  follow  upon  your  sympathies.  There 
is  something  sinister  in  your  present  state.  I  want 
you  to  tell  me  just  what  the  terror  is  that  is  sitting 
in  your  heart,  that  has  changed  you  like  this.  Joce- 
lyn Thew  has  some  hold  upon  you.  If  so,  you  need 
a  man  to  stand  by  your  side.  Can't  you  treat  me  as 
a  friend?  " 

She  softened  at  his  words.  For  a  moment  she  sat 
quite  silent. 

"  I  can  only  repeat  to  you  what  I  told  you  once 
before,"  she  said.  "  If  you  are  picturing  Jocelyn 
Thew  to  yourself  as  a  blackmailer,  or  anj'thing  of 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     i8i 

that  sort,  you  are  wrong.  I  am  under  the  very  deep- 
est obligations  to  him." 

"  But  surely,"  he  protested,  "  you  have  paid  your 
debt,  whatever  it  was?  " 

"  He  admits  it." 

"  And  yet  the  terror  remains  ?  " 

*'  It  remains,"  she  repeated  sadly. 

Crawshay  meditated  for  a  moment. 

"  Look  here,  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  I  have  a 
friend  who  is  chief  in  this  country  of  a  department 
which  I  will  not  name.  Will  you  dine  with  me  to- 
night and  let  me  invite  him  to  meet  you?  " 

She  shook  her  head. 

"  It  is  a  very  kind  thought,"  she  declared,  "  but  I 
am  engaged.     i\Ir.  Jocehm  Thew  is  dining  here." 

Crawshay's  face  for  a  moment  was  very  black  in- 
deed.    He  rose  slowly  to  his  feet. 

"  I  know  that  you  mean  to  be  kind,"  she  contin- 
ued, "  and  I  fear  that  I  must  seem  very  ungrateful. 
Believe  me,  I  am  not.  I  am  simply  faced  with  one 
of  those  terrible  problems  which  must  be  solved,  and 
yet  which  admit  of  no  help  from  any  living  person." 

Crawsha3-'s  attitude  had  grown  perceptibly  stiff er. 

*'  I  am  very  sorry  indeed,  Miss  Beverley,"  he  said, 
*'  that  you  cannot  give  me  your  confidence.  I  am 
very  sorry  for  my  own  sake,  and  I  am  sorry  for 
yours." 

"  Is  that  a  threat?  "  she  asked. 

"  You  know  the  old  proverb,"  he  answered,  as  he 
bowed  over  her  fingers.  "  '  Those  who  are  not  on  my 
"jide  are  against  me.'  " 

"  You  are  going  to  treat  me  as  an  enemy?  " 

"  Until  you  prove  yourself  to  be  a  friend." 


CHAPTER  XIX 

At  a  quarter  to  eight  that  evening,  a  young  man 
who  had  made  fitful  appearances  in  the  lounge  of 
Claridge's  Restaurant  during  the  last  half-hour  went 
to  the  telephone  and  rang  up  a  certain  West  End 
number. 

"  Are  these  Mr.  Crawshay's  rooms?  "  he  asked. 

"  Mr.  Crawshay  speaking,"  was  the  reply. 

"Brightman  there.?" 

Crawshay  turned  away  from  the  telephone  and 
handed  the  receiver  to  the  detective. 

"  What  news,  Henshaw?  "  the  latter  enquired. 

"  Miss  Beverley  dines  at  her  usual  table,  sir,  at 
eight  o'clock,"  was  the  reply.  "  The  table  is  set 
for  three." 

"  For  three?  "  Brightman  exclaimed. 

"  For  three? "  Crawshay  echoed,  turning  from 
the  sideboard,  where  he  had  been  in  the  act  of  mixing 
some  cocktails. 

"  You  are  quite  sure  the  third  place  isn't  a  mis- 
take? "  Brightman  asked. 

*'  Quite  sure,  sir,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  *'  I  am 
acquainted  with  one  of  the  head  waiters  here,  and  I 
understand  that  two  gentlemen  are  expected." 

"  Anything  else?  " 

*'  Nothing,  sir.  Miss  Beverley  sent  away  two  par- 
cels this  afternoon,  which  were  searched  down-stairs. 
They  were  quite  unimportant." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     183 

"  I  shall  expect  to  hear  from  you  again,"  Bright- 
nian  directed,  "  within  half  an  hour.  If  the  third 
person  is  a  stranger,  try  and  find  out  his  name." 

"  I'll  manage  that  all  right,  Mr,  Brightman.  The 
young  lady  has  just  come  down.  I'll  be  getting  back 
into  the  lounge." 

Brightman  turned  around  to  Crawshay,  who  was 
in  the  act  of  shaking  the  cocktails. 

"  A  third  party,"  he  observed. 

"  Interesting,"  Crawshay  declared,  "  very  inter- 
esting! Perhaps  the  intermediary.  It  might  pos- 
sibly be  Doctor  Gant,  though." 

The  detective  shook  his  head. 

"  Three  quarters  of  an  hour  ago,"  he  said,  "  Doc- 
tor Gant  went  into  Gatti's  for  a  chop.  He  was  quite 
alone  and  in  morning  clothes." 

Crawshay  poured  the  amber-coloured  liquid  which 
he  had  been  shaking  into  a  frosted  glass,  handed  it 
to  his  companion  and  filled  one  for  himself. 

"  Here's  hell  to  Jocelyn  Thew,  anyway !  "  he  ex- 
claimed, with  a  note  of  real  feeling  in  his  tone. 

"  If  I  thought,"  Brightman  declared,  "  that  drink- 
ing that  toast  would  bring  him  any  nearer  to  it,  I 
should  become  a  confirmed  drunkard.  As  it  is,  sir  — 
my  congratulations  !     A  very  excellent  mixture !  " 

He  set  down  his  glass  empty  and  Crawshay  turned 
away  to  light  a  cigarette. 

"  No,"  he  decided,  "  I  don't  think  that  it  would 
be  Doctor  Gant.  Jocelyn  Thew  has  finished  with  him 
all  right.  He  did  his  job  well  and  faithfully,  but 
he  was  only  a  hired  tool.  Speculation,  however,  is 
useless.  We  must  wait  for  Henshaw's  news.  Per- 
haps this  third  guest,  whoever  he  may  be,  may  give 


i84     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

us  a  clue  as  to  Joceljn  Thew's  influence  over  Miss 
Beverley." 

The  telephone  rang  a  few  minutes  later.  Craw- 
shay  this  time  took  up  the  receiver,  and  Brightman 
the  spare  one  which  hung  by  the  side.  It  w.as  Hen- 
shaw  speaking. 

"  Miss  Beverley  has  just  gone  in  to  dinner,"  he 
announced.  "  She  is  accompanied  by  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew  and  a  young  officer  in  the  uniform  of  a  Flight 
Commander." 

"  What  is  his  name?  "  Crawshay  asked. 

"  I  have  had  no  opportunity  of  finding  out  yet," 
was  the  reply.  "  I  believe  that  he  is  staying  in  the 
hotel,  and  he  seems  to  be  on  very  intimate  terms  with 
Miss  Beverley." 

"  On  no  account  lose  sight  of  the  party,"  Craw- 
shay directed,  "  and  try  and  find  out  the  young  sol- 
dier's name.  Wasn't  he  introduced  to  Jocelyn 
Thew?" 

"  Not  a  bit  of  it,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  *'  They 
shook  hands  very  much  like  old  friends." 

"  Go  back  and  watch,"  Crawshay  directed.  "  I 
must  know  his  name.  The  sooner  you  can  find  out, 
the  better.  I  want  to  get  away  within  a  few  min- 
utes, if  I  can." 

They  left  the  instrument.  Crawshay,  who  seemed 
a  little  nervous,  took  a  cigarette  from  an  open  box 
which  he  passed  across  to  his  companion,  and  strolled 
up  and  down  the  room  for  a  few  moments  with  his 
hands  in  his  pockets. 

"  A  young  officer,"  he  remarked,  "  presumably 
English,  known  to  both  Miss  Beverley  and  Jocelyn 
Thew,  seems  rather  a  puzzle.     He  msLj  be  the  con- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     185 

nectlng  link.  I  hope  to  goodness  your  man  won't 
be  long,  Brightman." 

"  Are  you  in  a  hurry?  "  the  detective  asked. 

Crawshay  nodded. 

"  I  want  to  get  round  to  the  Savoy,"  he  announced. 

Brightman  smiled  slightly. 

"  Were  you  thinking  about  the  young  lady,  sir?  " 
he  asked. 

"  I  thought  it  might  be  useful  to  renew  my  ac- 
quaintance with  her,"  Crawshay  explained,  a  little 
laboriously.     "  I  shouldn't  think  she'd  go  out  alone." 

"  She  has  probably  made  some  friends  by  this 
time,"  Brightman  observed. 

Crawshay  dropped  his  eyeglass  and  polished  it. 

"  From  my  experience  of  the  young  lad}',"  he  said, 
a  little  stiffly,  "  I  should  think  it  improbable.  I  hap- 
pened to  meet  her  twice  in  New  York,  and  she  struck 
me  as  being  an  extraordinarily  well-behaved  and,  in 
her  natural  way,  very  attractive  person." 

"  Do  you  suppose  that  she  came  to  Europe  after 
Jocelyn  Thew?  "  Brightman  asked. 

"  Oh,  damn  Jocelyn  Thew !  "  Crawshay  replied. 
"  I  should  think  it  most  unlikely.  You  and  I  have 
both  seen  the  man's  dossier.  Most  cold-blooded  per- 
son alive." 

The  telephone  broke  in  once  more  upon  their  con- 
versation. Crawshay  took  up  the  receiver.  It  was 
Henshaw  speaking. 

"  I  made  a  mistake  about  the  uniform,  sir,"  he 
announced.  "  The  young  man  is  in  the  Canadian 
Flying  Corps  and  he  is  the  young  lady's  brother. 
He  is  called  Captain  Beverley." 

"  Her  brother !  "  Crawshay  exclaimed. 


186     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  The  connecting  link !  "  Brightman  murmured. 

Meanwhile,  the  little  dinner  at  Claridge's,  of  which 
sketchy  tidings  were  being  convejed  to  the  two  occu- 
pants of  Crawshay's  flat  by  Henshaw,  was  settling 
down,  so  far  as  the  two  men  were  concerned,  into  a 
cheery  enough  meal.  There  had  been  a  little  strange- 
ness at  first,  but  Jocelyn  Thew's  hearty  welcome  of 
his  young  friend,  and  his  genuine  pleasure  at  seeing 
him,  had  quickly  broken  the  ice.  Katharine,  how- 
ever, although  she  had  a  shade  more  colour  than 
earlier  in  the  day,  had  sometimes  the  air  of  a 
Banquo  at  the  feast.  She  listened  almost  feverishly 
to  Jocelyn  Thcw,  whenever  he  seemed  inclined  to  turn 
the  conversation  into  a  certain  channel,  and  she 
watched  her  brother  a  little  anxiouslj'  as  the  waiter 
filled  up  his  glass,  unchecked,  every  few  minutes. 
The  likeness  between  the  two  was  apparent  enough, 
although  marked  by  certain  differences.  Beverley 
was  tall,  of  exceedingly  powerful  build,  and  with  a 
fresh,  strong  face  which  would  have  been  remarkably 
attractive  but  for  the  weak  mouth  and  the  slightly 
puffy  cheeks. 

"  I  can't  conceive  anything  more  fortunate  than 
this  meeting,"  Jocelyn  Thew  declared,  as  he  in- 
spected the  cigars  which  had  been  brought  round  to 
him,  with  the  air  of  a  connoisseur.  "  Quite  an  ex- 
traordinary coincidence,  too,  that  you  should  turn 
up  in  London  on  five  days'  leave,  the  very  day  that 
your  sister  arrives  from  the  States.  Tell  me,  are 
you  right  up  at  the  front?  " 

"  Right  beyond  it,  most  days,"  was  the  cheerful 
reply.  "  We  spend  most  of  our  time  over  the  Ger- 
man lines." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     187 

"  Lucky  fellow  !  "  Jocehn  Thew  sighed.  "  You 
are  getting  now  what  a  few  years  ago  one  had  to 
defy  the  law  for  —  real,  thrilling  sensations.  It's 
a  life  for  men,  yours." 

The  young  man's  hand  shook  a  little  as  he  raised 
his  glass.  He  looked  towards  Jocelyn  Thew  almost 
appealingly. 

"  It's  a  splendid  life,"  he  assented,  talking  rapidly 
and  with  the  air  of  one  who  wishes  to  stifle  conversa- 
tion. "  I  had  hard  work  to  get  my  wings,  but  I 
guess  I'm  all  right  now.  The  engine  part  of  it 
never  gave  me  any  trouble,  but  I  suffered  from  a 
kind  of  sickness  the  first  few  times  I  went  up.  It's 
a  gorgeous  sensation,  flying.  The  worst  of  it  is  we 
never  know  when  those  cunning  Germans  aren't  com- 
ing out  with  something  fresh.  They  stung  us  up 
last  week  with  a  dozen  planes  of  an  entirely  new  pat- 
tern, two  hundred  and  fifty  horse-power  engines  on 
a  small  frame.  Gee,  they  gave  some  of  our  elderly 
machines  a  touching  up,  I  can  tell  you !  " 

"  So  you  fly  over  the  German  lines  most  days,  eh.''  " 
Jocelyn  Thew  ruminated. 

*-*  We  dropped  a  few  thousand  copies  of  the  Presi- 
dent's speech  last  Monday,"  the  young  man  told 
them.  "  That  ought  to  give  them  something  to  think 
about.  They  only  know  just  what  they  are  told. 
The  last  batch  of  prisoners  that  were  brought  in 
firmly  believed  that  one  of  their  armies  had  landed 
in  England  and  that  London  was  on  the  point  of 
falling." 

"  All  war,"  Jocelyn  Thew  said  didactically,  "  is 
carried  on  under  a  cloud  of  misconception." 

The  young  man  stretched  himself  out.     He  had 


z88     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

dmed  TcU  and  liis  coura c^  '^ss  z^'.'irz.'^'zg.  He  asic-d 
m.  qa^>tioii  which  up  tiL  :::cr  zi  r..-.z  fe.:  mc-ined  to 
shirk. 

"  What  licks  me,^  he  declared  s^adderlj.  "  is  find- 
ing voa  two  oTer  here.  What  ever  brought  jou 
acro&s,  Katharine?  " 

There  was  a  brief  siloice.  Katharine  seoned  un- 
certain how  to  answer.  It  was  Jocelyn  Thew  who 
too^  up  tlie  rhalleng^. 

"A  littk  OTcr  a  fortnight  ago.'^  he  exrlained.  "  I 
flU^  upon  your  sister  in  New  York.  I  begge-d  her 
to  perform  a  certain  service  for  roe.  Sr^e  consented. 
The  execution  of  that  service  brought  her  across 
from  New  York  on  board  the  City  of  Bo t ton/' 

"  But  have  tou  two  been  seeing  an vthixg  of  one 
ar ::..;-,  "  .e~.'  Y?a  never  mentiraied  Thew  in  anj 
o:  '      -      --  -  =  .  Katharine?" 

"  '  9!!d  I  hare  not  met  since  a  certain 
."  Joceljn  TTiew  replied- 
Z  .     -  .-.--J  and  drained  his  glass. 

"'he  enqoired. 
~  Yc  -  -  ^jed  sick  norse  upon  the  steamer 

*      .  '  T  was  interested,  and  who  was 

hospital,''  Jocdjn  Tfeew  ex- 
~  He  ~        --^  7.-  ^'.ishman,  and  verr  anxious 
he  died." 
"."*  Bererlej  admitted. 
Joceljn    Tbew    -  "esslv    aroxmd.     His 

maimfT  was  th  '    -  he  only 

resumed  hi*  sr  .     -  not  even 

a  waiter  was  within  hearing. 

"  It  happened  to  form  part  of  an  important  plan 
of  mnae,"  he  said,  "  that  a  man  who  was  dangerouslj 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     189 

ill  should  be  brought  over  to  England  without  raising 
any  suspicion  as  to  his  bona  iides.  I  made  nse  of 
your  sister's  name  and  social  position  to  ensnre  this. 
There  has  been,  as  I  think  you  have  often  ackno"*"!- 
edged,  Beverley,  a  debt  owing  from  you  to  me.  Half 
of  that  debt  your  sister  has  paid." 

'•  You  haven't  been  getting  Katharine  mixed  up 
in  any  crooked  business?  "  her  brother  demanded  ex- 
citedly. 

"  Your  sister  ran  no  risk  whatever."  Jocelyn  Tnew 
assured  him.  "  She  performed  her  share  of  the  bar- 
gain excellently.  It  is  just  possible,"  he  continued, 
with  a  glint  of  fire  in  his  eyes  and  a  peculiar,  cold 
emphasis  creeping  into  his  words,  "  that  it  may 
fall  to  vour  lot  to  wipe  out  the  remainder  of  the 
debt.^' 

Beverley  moved  in  his  chair  uneasilT. 

"  You  wiU  remember,"  he  said,  **  that  things  have 
changed.  I  am  not  a  free  affent  now.  I  entered 
upon  this  fighting  business  as  an  adventure,  but,  mj 
God.  Thew,  it's  got  into  my  blood !  I've  seen  things, 
felt  things.  I  don't  want  anything  to  come  between 
me  and  the  glorious  life  I  live  day  by  day." 

Jocelyn  Thew  nodded  approvinfilv. 

*•  That's  the  proper  spirit.  Beverley."  he  declared. 
"  I  always  knew  you  had  pluck.  Quite  the  proper 
spirit !  Yoor  sister  showed  the  same  courage  when 
the  necessity  came." 

"  Oh,  don't  bring  me  into  this,  please ! ''  she  inter- 
rupted. 

"  You  seem  to  have  been  brought  into  it,"  her 
brother  observed  grimly.  "  and  I'm  not  sure  that  I 
am  satisfied.     I  can  pay  ii:y  own  debts." 


190     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

There  was  a  note  of  rising  anger  in  liiti  tone. 
Katharine  laid  her  fingers  upon  his  hand. 

"  Don't  imagine  things,  please,  Dick,"  she  begged. 
**  It  is  my  own  foolishness  if  I  am  disturbed.  I  really 
had  nothing  to  do.  Mr.  Thew  has  been  most  con- 
siderate." 

"  In  any  case,"  Jocelyn  Thew  went  on,  "  I  think 
that  the  matter  had  better  be  discussed  another  time, 
when  we  are  alone.  We  might  have  to  make  refer- 
ence to  things  which  are  best  not  mentioned  in  a 
public  place." 

For  a  moment  the  young  man's  eyes  challenged 
his.     Then  they  fell.     He  shivered  a  little. 

*'  Why  ever  speak  of  them  ?  "  he  demanded. 

"  Ah,  well,  we'll  see,"  Jocelyn  Thew  observed. 
*'  Now  what  about  an  hour  or  two  at  a  music-hall? 
I  have  a  box  at  the  Alhambra." 

Katharine  rose  at  once  to  her  feet.  They  all  made 
their  way  into  the  lounge.  Whilst  they  waited  for 
her  to  fetch  her  cloak,  Beverley  swung  round  to  his 
companion. 

"  Look  here,"  he  said,  "  for  myself  it  doesn't  mat- 
ter —  you  know  that  —  but  what  game  are  you  play- 
ing.'^ I  don't  know  much  about  your  life,  of  course, 
before  those  few  days,  but  on  your  own  showing  you 
were  out  for  big  things.  Are  you  known  here.''  Is 
it  anything  —  any  tiling  against  the  law,  this  business 
you're  on.-^  I  don't  care  for  myself  —  you  know 
that.     It's  Katharine  I'm  thinking  of." 

Jocelyn  The^'  knocked  the  ash  from  his  cigar.  He 
smiled  deprecatingly  at  his  companion.  Certainly 
there  was  no  man  in  that  very  fashionable  restaurant 
who  looked  less  like  a  criminal. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     igr 

"  My  dear  Beverley,"  he  expostulated,  "  you  must 
remember  that  I  am  an  exceedingly  clever  person.  I 
am  suspected  of  an}'  number  of  misdemeanours.  I 
will  not  say  that  there  are  not  one  or  two  of  which 
I  have  not  been  guilt}^  but  I  have  never  left  behind 
me  any  proof.  I  dare  say  the  English  police  over 
here  look  on  me  sometimes  just  as  hungrily  as  the 
New  York  ones.  They  feel  in  their  hearts  that  I  am 
an  adventurer.  They  feel  that  I  have  been  connected 
with  some  curious  enterprises,  both  in  the  States  and 
various  other  countries  of  the  globe.  They  know 
very  well  that  where  there  has  been  fighting  and  loot 
and  danger,  I  have  generally  followed  under  my  own 
flag.  They  know  all  tliis,  but  they  can  prove  noth- 
ing against  me.  They  can  only  watch  me,  and  that 
they  do  wherever  I  am.  They  are  watching  me  now, 
every  hour  of  the  day." 

"  It  isn't,"  the  young  man  commenced,  with  a  sud- 
den break  in  his  tone  — 

Jocelyn  shook  his  head. 

"  No,  my  young  friend,"  he  said,  "  the  curtain  fell 
upon  that  little  episode.  I  doubt  whether  there  is 
even  a  police  record  of  it.  It  isn't  the  lives  of  indi- 
viduals I  am  juggling  with  to-day.  It's  the  life  of 
a  nation." 

"  Are  you  a  spy?  "  Beverley  asked  him  hoarsely. 

"  Your  sister,"  Jocelyn  Thew  pointed  out,  "  is 
waiting  for  us." 


CHAPTER  XX 

Crawshay,  having  the  good  fortune  to  find,  as  he 
issued  from  his  rooms,  a  taxicab  whose  driver's  ideas 
of  speed  were  in  accordance  with  his  own  impatience, 
managed  to  reach  the  Savoy  at  a  few  minutes  before 
eight.  He  entered  the  hotel  by  the  Court  entrance. 
An  insignificant-looking  young  man  with  a  fair  mous- 
tache and  watery  eyes  touched  him  on  the  shoulder 
as  he  passed  through  the  Court  lobby.  Crawshay 
glanced  lazily  around  and  assured  hsmself  that  they 
were  unobserved. 

"  Anything  fresh  ?  "  he  asked  laconically. 

"  Nothing.  We  have  searched  Miss  Sharey's 
rooms  thoroughly,  and  two  of  our  men  have  been 
over  Thew's  apartments  again." 

"  Miss  Sharey  up-stairs.^  " 

The  young  man  sliook  his  head. 

**  Hasn't  been  up  for  some  hours,"  he  reported. 

Crawshay  nodded  and  strolled  on.  He  left  his 
coat  and  hat  in  charge  of  the  attendant,  and  entered 
the  grill  room.  Here,  however,  he  met  with  disap- 
pointment. The  place  was  crowded  but  his  search 
was  methodical.  There  was  no  sign  there  of  Nora 
Sharey.  He  climbed  the  few  stairs  and  entered  the 
smoking  room.  Seated  in  an  armchair,  reading  a 
novel,  he  discovered  the  young  lady  of  whom  he  was 
in  search. 

He  crossed  the  room  at  a  slow  saunter,  as  though 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     193 

on  his  way  to  the  bar,  and  paused  before  the  girl's 
chair.  She  laid  down  her  book  and  looked  up  at 
him.     Her  smile  at  once  assured  him  of  a  welcome. 

"  I  am  glad  that  I  am  not  altogether  forgotten. 
Miss  Sharev,"  he  said,  holding  out  his  hand  which 
she  promptly  accepted.  "  I  suppose  it  still  is  Miss 
Sharey,  is  it?     I  hope  so." 

"  I  guess  the  name's  all  right,"  she  replied.  "  Glad 
to  see  you  don't  bear  any  ill-will  against  me,  Mr. 
Crawsbay.  You  Englishmen  sometimes  get  so  peev- 
ish when  things  don't  go  quite  your  way,  and  you 
weren't  saying  nice  things  to  me  last  time  we  met." 

Crawshay  smiled  and  glanced  at  the  seat  by  her 
side.  She  made  room  for  him,  and  he  subsided  into 
the  vacant  space  with  a  little  sigh  of  content. 

"  A  man's  profession,"  he  confided,  "  sometimes 
makes  large  and  repugnant  demands  upon  him." 

"  If  that  means  you  are  sorry  you  were  rude  to 
me  last  time  we  met  down  in  Fourteenth  Street,"  she 
said,  "  I  guess  I  may  as  well  accept  your  apology. 
You  were  a  trifle  disappointed  then,  weren't  you?" 

"  We  acted,"  Crawshay  explained,  with  studied 
laboriousness, — "  m}'  friends  and  I  acted,  that  is  to 
say  —  upon  inconclusive  information.  America  at 
that  time,  you  see,  was  a  neutral  Power,  and  the  fa- 
cilities granted  us  by  the  New  York  police  were  lim- 
ited in  their  character.  My  department  was  thor- 
oughly convinced  that  the  —  er  —  restaurant  of 
which  your  father  was  the  proprietor  was  something 
more  than  the  ordinary  meeting  place  of  that  section 
of  your  country-people  who  carried  their  enmity  to- 
wards my  country  to  an  unreasonable  extent." 

She  looked  at  him  admiringly. 


JS4     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

'**  Say,  you  know  how  to  talk ! "  she  observed 
***  What  about  getting  an  mnocent  girl  turned  out 
»of  a  job  at  Washington,  though?  " 

Crawshay  stroked  his  long  chin  reflectively. 

*'  You  don't  suppose,"  he  began  — 

*'  Oh,  don't  yarn  !  "  she  interrupted.  "  I'm  not 
squealing.  You  knew  very  well  that  I'd  no  need  to 
take  a  post  as  telephone  operator,  and  you  did  your 
duty  when  you  got  me  turned  off.  It  was  very  clever 
of  you,"  she  went  on,  "  to  tumble  to  me." 

Crawshay  accepted  the  compliment  with  a  smile. 

*'  If  you  will  permit  me  to  say  so,  Miss  Sharey," 
he  declared,  "  you  are  what  we  call  in  this  country 
a.  good  sportsman." 

"  Oh,  I  can  keep  on  the  tracks  all  right,"  she  as- 
sented. "  I  guess  I  am  a  little  easier  to  deal  with, 
for  instance,  than  your  friend  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew." 

Crawshay  frowned.  His  expression  became  gloom- 
ier. 

**  I  am  bound  to  confess.  Miss  Sharey,"  he  sighed, 
"  that  your  friend  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  has  been  the 
disappointment  of  my  life." 

*'  Some  brains,  eh.''  " 

*'  He  has  brains,  courage  and  luck,"  Crawshay 
pronounced.  "  Against  these  three  things  it  is  very 
hard  work  to  bring  off  —  shall  I  say  a  coup?  " 

"  The  man  who  gets  the  better  of  Jocelyn  Thew," 
she  declared,  with  a  little  laugh,  "  deserves  all  the 
nuts.  He  is  a  sure  winner  every  time.  You're  up 
against  him  now,  aren't  you?  " 

"  More  or  less,"  Crawshay  confessed.  "  I  crossed 
on  the  -steamer  with  him." 

*'  I  bet  thai  didn't  do  you  much  good !  " 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      195 

"  I  lost  the  first  game,"  Crawshay  confessed  can- 
didly.    "  I  see  that  you  know  all  about  it." 

"  No  need  to  put  me  wiser  than  I  am,"  the  girl 
observed  carelessly.     "  Jocelyn  Thew's  no  talker." 

"  Not  unless  it  serves  his  purpose.  It  is  astonish- 
ing," Crawshay  went  on  reflectively,  "  how  the  sci- 
ence of  detection  has  changed  during  the  last  ten 
years.  When  I  was  an  apprentice  at  it  —  and 
though  you  may  not  think  it.  Miss  Sharey,  I  am  a 
professional,  not  an  amateur,  although  I  am  gen- 
€raUy  employed  on  Government  business  —  secrecy 
was  our  watchword.  We  hid  in  comers,  we  were 
stealthy,  we  always  posed  as  being  something  we 
weren't.  We  should  have  denied  emphatically  hav- 
ing the  slightest  interest  in  the  person  under  sur- 
veillance. In  these  days,  however,  everything  is 
changed.  We  play  the  game  with  the  cards  upon 
the  table  —  all  except  the  last  two  or  three,  per- 
haps —  and  curiously  enough,  I  am  not  at  all  sure 
that  it  doesn't  add  finesse  to  the  game." 

Her  eyes  flashed  appreciatively. 

"  You're  dead  right,"  she  acknowledged,  "  Take 
us  two,  for  instance.  You  know  very  well  that  Joce- 
lyn Thew  is  a  pal  of  mine.  You  know  very  well  that 
I  shall  see  him  within  the  next  twenty-four  hours. 
You  know  very  well  that  you're  out  to  hunt  him  to 
the  death,  and  you  know  that  I  kn'ow  it.  Every 
question  a^ou  ask  me  has  a  purpose,  yet  we  talk  here 
just  as  chance  acquaintances  might  —  I,  a  girl  whom 
you  rather  like  the  look  of  —  you  do  like  the  look  of 
me,  don't  you,  Mr.  Crawshay?  " 

Crawshay  had  no  need  to  be  subtle.  His  eyes  and 
tone  betrayed  his  admiration. 


196     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  have  thoroughly  disliked  you  ever  since  you 
were  too  clever  for  me  in  New  York,"  he  confessed, 
"  and  I  have  been  in  love  with  you  all  the  time." 

"  And  you,"  she  continued,  with  a  little  gleam  of 
appreciation  in  her  eyes,  "  are  a  very  pleasant-look- 
ing, smart,  agreeable  Englishman,  who  looks  as 
though  he  knew  almost  enough  to  ask  a  poor  girl 
out  to  dinner." 

Crawshay  glanced  at  his  wrist  watch. 

"  It  is  you  who  have  the  science  of  detection,"  he 
declared.  "  You  have  read  my  thoughts.  Do  you 
wish  to  change  your  clothes  first,  or  shall  we  turn  in 
at  a  grill  room.f*  " 

She  rose  promptly  to  her  feet. 

"  I'm  all  for  the  glad  rags,"  she  insisted.  "  I 
bought  a  heap  of  clothes  in  Bond  Street  this  after- 
noon, and  I  don't  know  how  many  chances  I  shall 
have  of  wearing  them.  I  am  a  quick  dresser,  and  I 
shan't  keep  you  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour. 
But  just  one  moment  first." 

Crawshay  stood  attentively  by  her  side. 

"  I  am  at  your  service,"  he  murmured. 

"  It's  all  in  the  game,"  she  went  on,  "  for  you 
to  take  me  out  to  dinner,  of  course,  but  I  guess  I 
needn't  tell  you  that  there's  nothing  doing  in  the 
information  way.  You've  fixed  it  up  in  your  mind, 
I  dare  say,  that  I  am  mad  with  Jocelyn  Thew.  I 
may  be  or  I  may  not,  but  that  doesn't  make  me 
any  the  more  likely  to  come  in  on  your  side  of  the 
game." 

Mr.  Crawshay's  gesture  was  entirely  convincing. 

"  My  dear  Miss  Sharey,"  he  said  softly,  "  I  am 
going  to  take  a  holiday.     Business  is  one  thing  and 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     197 

pleasure  is  another.  For  this  evening  I  am  going 
to  put  business  out  of  my  mind.  The  sentiment  at 
which  I  hinted  a  few  moments  ago,  has,  I  can  assure 
you,  a  very  real  existence." 

"Hinted.?"  she  laughed.  "Guess  there  wasn't 
much  hint  about  it.  You  said  you  were  in  love 
with  me." 

"  I  am,"  Crawshay  sighed. 

Her  eyes  danced  joyously. 

"  You  shall  tell  me  all  about  it  over  dinner,"  she 
declared.  "  I've  got  a  peach  of  a  black  gown  — 
you  won't  mind  if  I  am  twenty  minutes.''  " 

"  I  shall  mind  every  moment  that  you  are  away," 
Crawshay  replied,  "  but  I  can  pass  the  time.  I  will 
telephone  and  have  a  cocktail." 

She  leaned  towards  him. 

"  I  can  guess  whom  you  are  going  to  telephone 
to." 

"  Perhaps  —  but  not  what  I  am  going  to  say." 

"  You  are  going  to  telephone  to  that  chap  with 
the  dark  moustache  —  Brightman,  isn't  it?  I  can 
hear  you  on  the  wire.  '  Say,  boys,'  you'll  begin, 
*  I'm  on  to  a  good  thing !  Everything's  looking 
lovely.  I'm  taking  little  Nora  Sharey,  of  Four- 
teenth Street,  out  to  dine  —  girl  who  came  over  to 
Europe  after  Jocelyn  Thew,  you  know.  Good  busi- 
ness, eh?  '  " 

Crawshay  laughed  tolerantly.  The  girl's  humour 
pleased  him. 

"  You  are  wrong,"  he  declared.  "  If  I  told  them 
that,  they'd  expect  something  from  me  which  I  know 
I  shan't  get.  You  are  right  about  the  person, 
though.     I  am  going  to  telephone  to  Brightman." 


igS     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  What  are  you  going  to  say?  "  she  challenged 
him. 

"  I  am  just  going  to  tell  him,"  Crawshay  con- 
fided, "  that  Jocelyn  Thew  is  dining  with  Miss  Bever- 
ley and  her  brother,  more  red  roses  and  a  corner 
table  in  the  restaurant,  and — " 

"Well,  what  else?" 

Crawshay  hesitated. 

"  Perhaps,"  he  said,  "  if  I  went  on  I  might  put 
just  one  card  too  many  on  the  table,  eh?  " 

"We'll  let  it  go  at  that,  then,"  she  decided. 
"  After  all,  you  know,  I  am  not  coming  exactly  like 
a  lamb  to  the  slaughter.  There  are  a  few  things 
you'd  like  to  get  to  know  from  me  about  Jocelyn 
Thew,  but  there  are  also  a  few  things  I  should  like 
to  worm  out  of  you.  We'll  see  which  wins.  And, 
Mr.  Crawshay." 

"Miss  Sharey?"  he  murmured,  bending  down  to 
her  as  he  held  the  door  open. 

"  I  don't  mind  confessing  that  it  depends  a  great 
deal  upon  what  brand  of  champagne  you  fancy." 

"  Mum  cordon  rouge?  "  he  suggested. 

She  made  a  little  grimace  as  she  turned  away. 

"  I  am  rather  beginning  to  fancy  your  chance,'* 
she  declared. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Crawshay,  about  half  an  hour  later,  piloted  his 
companion  to  the  table  which  he  had  engaged  in  the 
restaurant  with  all  the  savoir  faire  of  a  redoubtable 
man  about  town.  She  was,  in  her  way,  an  exceed- 
ingly striking  figure  in  a  black  satin  gown  on  which 
■was  enscrolled  one  immense  cluster  of  flowers.  Her 
neck  and  arms,  very  fully  visible,  were  irreproachable. 
Her  blue-black  hair,  simply  arranged  but  magnificent, 
triumphed  over  the  fashions  of  the  coiffeur.  The 
transition  from  Fourteenth  Street  to  her  present  sur- 
roundings seemed  to  have  been  accomplished  without 
the  slightest  hitch.  She  leaned  forward  to  smell  the 
great  cluster  of  white  roses  which  he  had  ordered  in 
from  the  adjoining  florist's. 

"  The  one  flower  I  love,"  she  sighed.  "  I  always 
fall  for  white  roses." 

Crawshay's  ej-es  twinkled  as  he  took  his  place. 

"  Do  you  remember  your  English  history.''  "  he 
asked.  *'  This  is  perhaps  destined  to  become  a  battle 
of  red  and  white  roses  —  red  roses  at  Claridge's  and 
white  roses  here." 

"Which  won  —  in  history?"  she  asked  indiff'er- 
ently. 

"  That  I  won't  tell  you,"  he  said,  "  in  case  you 
should  be  superstitious.  At  the  same  time,  I  am 
bound  to  confess  that  if  we  could  both  of  us  hear 
exactly  what  Jocelyn  Thew  is  saying  to-night  across 


200     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

those  red  roses,  I  think  perhaps  that  I  should  back 
the  House  of  York." 

"  So  that's  the  stunt,  is  it  ?  "  she  remarked  coolly. 
"  You  want  to  make  me  jealous  of  Katharine  Bever- 
ley?" 

"  The  cleverest  and  hardest  men  in  the  world," 
Crawshay  observed,  "  generally  meet  with  their  Wa- 
terloo at  the  hands  of  your  sex.  So  far  as  I  am 
concerned,  I  am  myself  in  distress.  I  am  jealous  of 
Jocelyn  Thew." 

"  You're  bearing  up  !  " 

"  I  am  bearing  up,"  Crawshay  rejoined,  "  because 
I  am  hoping  that  with  kindness  and  consideration, 
and  with  opportunity  to  prove  to  you  what  a  do- 
mestic and  faithful  person  I  am,  you  will  perceive 
that  of  the  two  men  I  am  the  more  worthy." 

"Think  something  of  yourself,  don't  you.''"  she 
observed. 

"  I  have  cultivated  this  confidence,"  he  told  her. 
"  In  my  younger  days  I  was  over-diffident." 

"  Guess  you're  older  than  I  thought  you,  then." 

"  I  am  thirty-seven  years  old,"  he  declared,  "  and 
I  was  well  brought  up." 

"  Jocelyn  Thew,"  she  said  reflectively,  "  is  forty." 

"  I  did  not  bring  you  here,"  he  declared,  "  to  dis- 
cuss the  age  of  my  unworthy  rival.  I  brought  you 
to  tell  me  whether  you  consider  that  this  Lobster 
Americaine  reminds  you  at  all  of  Delmonico's,  and  to 
prove  to  you  that  we  can,  if  we  put  our  minds  to  it 
and  speak  plain  and  simple  words  to  the  sommeliery 
serve  our  champagne  as  iced  even  as  you  like  it." 

Nora  was  not  wanting  in  appreciation. 

"  It's  the  best  thing  I've  had  to  eat  since  I  left 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     201 

New  York,  and  for  some  time  before  that,"  she 
assured  him.  "  There  hasn't  been  much  Delmonico's 
for  me  during  the  last  few  months.  Too  many  of 
your  lot  poking  about  Fourteenth  Street." 

He  nodded. 

"  After  all,"  he  said,  "  that  was  bound  to  come  to 
an  end  when  America  declared  war.  You  people 
did  the  only  wise  thing  —  brother  to  San  Francisco, 
eh,  your  father  to  Chicago,  and  you  over  here?  " 

"  You  do  know  things,"  she  laughed. 

"  I  am  a  perfect  dictionary  as  to  your  movements," 
he  assured  her. 

"  Have  you  anything  to  do  with  the  fact  that  my 
rooms  have  been  searched  by  the  police.''  "  she  asked 
abruptly. 

"  Indirectly  I  fear  so,"  he  confessed.  "  You  see, 
up  to  the  present  we  haven't  the  least  idea  as  to 
what  has  become  of  all  those  documents  and  plans 
which  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  so  very  cleverly  brought 
over  to  this  country." 

"  Don't  know  where  he's  tucked  them  away,  eh?  " 
she  enquired. 

"  That's  a  fact,"  Crawshay  confessed.  "  We  dis- 
covered, a  trifle  too  late,  how  they  were  brought  over, 
but  what  has  become  of  them  since  Jocelyn  Thew's 
arrival  in  London  we  do  not  know.  Every  one  con- 
cerned has  been  searched,  no  deposit  has  been  made 
at  any  hotel  or  in  any  of  the  ordinary  places  where 
one  might  conceal  securities.  They  have  momen- 
tarily vanished." 

The  girl's  eyes  twinkled. 

"  Well,"  she  exclaimed,  "  he  does  put  it  over  you, 
doesn't  he?     I  wonder  whether  you  think  that  I  am 


202     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

going  to  be  any  use  to  you  —  that  you'll  trap  Joce- 
lyn  Thew  through  me?  " 

"  Not  now,"  he  answered.  "  I  used  to  think  so 
once." 

"  Why  have  you  changed  your  mind?  " 

"  Because,"  he  told  her  bluntly,  "  I  used  once  to 
think  that  you  and  he  cared  for  one  another." 

"  And  now?  " 

"  I  have  changed  m}'  mind,"  he  admitted.  "  You 
know  him  so  well  that  I  need  not  remind  you  that 
where  women  are  concerned  he  seems  to  have  shown 
few  signs  of  weakness.  Personally,  I  have  a  theory 
that  the  time  has  come  when  he  is  likely  to  go  the 
way  of  all  other  men." 

She  leaned  across  the  table.  Those  wonderful 
brown  eyes  of  hers  were  lit  with  an  indescribable  in- 
terest. Crawshay  for  a  moment  lost  the  thread  of 
his  thoughts.  They  were  certainly  the  most  beauti- 
ful eyes  he  had  ever  looked  into. 

"  You  think  there  is  anything  between  those  two  — 
Katharine  Beverley  and  him?  " 

*'  The  consideration  of  that  point,"  Crawshay  con- 
tinued, resuming  his  usual  manner,  "  although  it  lies 
off  tlie  track  of  my  present  investigation,  presents 
some  points  of  interest.  She  can  be  of  no  further 
use  to  him  in  his  present  scheme.  She  certainly 
would  not  aid  him  in  the  concealment  of  any  of  his 
spoils,  nor  could  she  become  an  intermediary  in  for- 
warding them  to  their  destination.  Yet  he  has  sent 
her  roses  every  day  she  has  been  in  England,  and 
dined  with  her  two  nights  following.  You,  who 
know  him  better  than  I  do,  will  agree  that  such  a 
course  is  unusual  with  him." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     203 

"  But  Dick  Beverley  is  with  them  to-night,  you 
told  me,"  she  reminded  him. 

"  That  scarcely  alters  the  situation,"  Crawshay 
pointed  out,  "  because  his  coming  was  quite  unex- 
pected. If  anj^thing,  it  rather  strengthens  my  point 
of  view.  Beverley  is  very  much  a  young  man  of  the 
world,  and  he  probably  knows  Jocelyn  Thew's  repu- 
tation. He  certainly-  would  not  consent  to  meet  him 
in  this  friendly  fashion,  in  company  with  his  sister, 
unless  the  latter  insisted." 

"  She  doesn't  need  to  insist,"  Nora  said,  watching 
the  champagne  poured  into  her  glass.  "  Unless 
you're  kidding  me,  you  don't  seem  to  be  able  to  see 
much  further  than  your  nose.  Katharine  Beverley 
didn't  come  across  the  Atlantic  for  her  health,  and 
Dick  Beverley  didn't  join  that  little  dinner  party 
for  nothing  to-night.  They  both  of  them  did  as 
they  were  told,  and  they  had  to  do  it." 

*'  This,  I  must  confess,"  Crawshay  murmured, 
smoothl}^  and  mendaciously,  "  puzzles  me.  Your 
idea  is,  then,  that  Jocelyn  Thew  has  some  hold  over 
them?" 

She  laughed  at  him  a  little  contemptuously. 

"  You  are  not  going  to  make  me  believe,"  she  said, 
"  that  you  are  not  wise  about  that.  It  isn't  clever, 
you  know,  to  treat  me  as  a  simpleton." 

"  I  am  afraid,"  he  confessed  humbly,  "  that  it  is 
I  who  am  the  simpleton.  You  think,  then,  that  the 
red  roses  are  more  emblematic  of  warfare  than  of 
love?" 

Nora  shrugged  her  shoulders  and  was  silent  for 
several  moments.  Her  companion  changed  the  sub- 
ject abruptly,  pointed  out  to  her  several  theatrical 


204     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

celebrities,  told  her  an  entertaining  story,  and  talked 
nonsense  until  the  smile  came  back  to  her  lips.  It 
was  Nora  herself  who  returned  to  the  subject  of  the 
Beverleys,  reopening  it  with  a  certain  abruptness 
which  showed  that  it  had  never  been  far  from  her 
thoughts. 

"  See  here,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she  said,  "  you  seem 
to  me  to  be  wasting  a  lot  of  time  worrying  round  a 
subject,  when  I  don't  know  whether  a  straightforward 
question  wouldn't  clear  it  up  for  you.  If  you  want 
to  know  what  there  is  between  those  three,  Jocelyn 
Thew  and  the  two  Beverleys,  I  don't  know  that  I 
mind  telling  you.  It's  probably  what  you  asked  me 
to  dine  with  3^ou  for,  anyway." 

"  My  dear  Miss  Sharey ! "  Crawshay  protested, 
with  genuine  earnestness.  "  I  can  assure  you  that 
I  had  only  one  object  in  asking  you  to  spend  the 
evening  with  me." 

She  smiled  at  him  over  the  glass  which  she  had 
just  raised  to  her  lips. 

"And  that.?" 

"  The  pleasure  of  talking  to  you  —  of  being  with 
you." 

"  You're  easily  satisfied." 

"  Perhaps  not  so  easily  as  I  seem,"  he  whispered, 
leaning  a  little  forward  in  his  place.  "  If  only  I 
were  sure  that  you  were  not  in  love  with  Jocelyn 
Thcw !  " 

"  If  you  think  that  I  am,"  she  observed,  "  why  are 
you  always  slinging  that  Beverley  girl  at  me.''  " 

"  Perhaps,"  he  said  coolly,  "  to  make  you  jealous. 
All's  fair  in  love  and  war,  you  know." 

"  I  see.     Then  what  you  really  want  is  to  make 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     205 

love  to  me  yourself?     I'm  sitting  here  and  taking  no- 
tice.    Go  right  ahead." 

Crawshay  let  himself  go  for  a  few  moments,  and  his 
comp'anion  listened  to  him  approvingly. 

"  It  sounds  quite  like  the  real  thing,"  she  sighed, 
"  but  I  never  trust  you  Englishmen.  You  seem  to 
acquire  the  habit  of  talking  love  to  us  girls  just  as 
easily  as  you  drink  a  cocktail.  You  know  that  if  I 
were  to  put  my  little  hand  in  yours  this  moment 
across  the  table,  you  wouldn't  know  what  to  do  with 
it." 

"  Try  me,"  Crawshay  begged. 

She  held  it  out  —  a  long,  rather  thin,  capable  wom- 
an's hand,  manicured  a  few  hours  ago  in  the  latest 
fashion,  but  ringless.  Crawshay  promptly  raised  it 
to  his  hps.  She  snatched  it  away,  half  amused,  half 
vexed,  and  glanced  furtively  around. 

"  If  you  did  that  in  an  American  restaurant,"  she 
told  him,  "  you'd  stand  some  chance  of  getting  your- 
self laughed  at." 

"  It's  quite  the  custom  over  here  and  on  the  Con- 
tinent," he  assured  her  equably.  "  It  means  —  well, 
just  as  much  as  you  want  it  to  mean." 

She  sighed  and  looked  at  her  fingers  reflec- 
tively. 

"  What  you'd  like  me  to  tell  you,  then,"  she  sug- 
gested, raising  her  eyes  and  looking  at  him  thought- 
fully, "  is  that  I've  never  wasted  a  thought  on  Joce- 
lyn  Thew,  but  that  Mr.  Reginald  Crawshay  is  it  with 
a  capital*  I'.?" 

"  It  would  make  me  very  happy,"  he  assured  her 
with  much  conviction. 

She  laughed  at  him  very   softly.     Little   sparks 


^o6     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

seemed  to  flash  from  her  eyes,  and  her  teeth  were  won- 
derful. 

"  You're  very  nice,  anyway,"  she  declared,  "  al- 
though I  am  not  sure  that  I  believe  in  you  as  much 
as  I'd  like  to.  I'll  just  tell  you  as  much  as  I  know. 
It  really  doesn't  amount  to  anything.  It  was  just 
after  Jocelvn  Thew  had  come  back  from  Nicaragua 
and  Dick  Beverle^^  was  having  a  flare-up  of  his  own 
in  New  York.  They  came  together,  those  two,  when 
Dick  was  in  a  tight  corner.  I  don't  know  the  storj^ 
but  I  know  that  Jocelyn  Thew  played  the  white  man. 
Dick  Beverlc}^  owes  him  perhaps  his  life,  perhaps 
only  his  liberty,  and  his  sister  knows  it.  That's  how 
those  three  stand  to  one  another." 

"  I  ought  to  have  puzzled  that  out  myself,"  Craw- 
shay  said  humbly. 

"  I  am  not  so  sure,"  she  retorted  drily,  "  that  you 
•didn't,  long  ago." 

"  Surmises  are  of  very  little  interest  by  the  side  of 
facts,"  he  reminded  her.  *'  I  like  to  have  something 
solid  to  build  upon." 

She  smiled  at  him  appreciatively. 

"  If  I  were  a  sentimental  sort  of  girl,"  she  de- 
clared, "  I  could  take  a  fancy  to  you,  Mr.  Craw- 
shay." 

"  Now  you're  laughing  at  me,"  he  protested. 
""  However,  I'm  going  right  on  with  it  and  then  we 
will  dismiss  all  serious  subjects.  Miss  Beverley  has 
certainly  quit  herself  of  any  obligation  to  Jocelyn 
T'hew.  Richard  Beverley  is  no  longer  free.  Be- 
sides, he  has  only  a  couple  of  days  in  England,  so 
there's  very  little  chance  of  his  being  of  use.  Yet," 
he  continued  impressively,  "  I  happen  to  know  that 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     207 

every  hour  just  now  is  of  the  greatest  importance  to 
Jocel3'n  Thew.  Why  does  he  spend  another  entire 
evening  with  these  two  ?  " 

"  Say,  which  of  us  is  the  detective  —  you  or  me?  "" 
she  demanded. 

"  Professionally,  I  suppose  I  am,"  he  admitted. 
*'  Just  now,  however,  I  consider  myself  as  indulging 
m  the  relaxation  of  private  life." 

She  leaned  across  the  table  towards  him,  her  chin 
supported  by  her  clenched  hands. 

"  Then  relax  all  you  want  to,"  she  begged,  with  a 
smile  of  invitation.  "  We'll  drop  the  other  stunt,  if 
you  don't  mind.  And  please  remember,  though  I've 
never  enjoyed  a  dinner  more  in  my  life,  that  we  don't 
want  to  be  too  late  for  the  Empire." 

Crawshay  returned  to  his  rooms  about  one  o'clock 
the  next  morning,  with  his  hat  a  little  on  the  back 
of  his  head,  and  wearing,  very  much  against  his 
prejudice,  a  white  rose  in  his  buttonhole.  Bright- 
man,  who  was  awaiting  him  there,  looked  up  eagerly 
at  his  entrance. 

"  Any  luck,  Mr.  Crawshay?  " 

Crawshay  laid  his  hat  and  coat  upon  the  table  and 
mixed  himself  a  whisky  and  soda. 

"  I  am  not  sure,"  he  replied  thoughtfully.  "  Are 
you  any  good  at  English  historj',  Brightman?  " 

"  I  won  an  exhibition  in  my  younger  days,"  the 
detective  replied.  "  I  used  to  consider  myself  rather 
great  on  history." 

"  Who  won  the  Wars  of  the  Roses?  " 

"  The  Lancastrians,  of  course." 

Crawshay  nodded. 


2o8     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  They  were  the  chaps  with  the  red  roses,  weren't 
they?"  he  observed.  "  Brightman,  I  fancy  we  are 
going  to  reverse  that.  I  am  laying  five  to  one  that 
I've  found  out  how  Jocelyn  Thew  counts  on  getting 
his  spoils  into  Germany." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

The  dinner  of  the  red  roses,  as  though  in  emula- 
tion of  its  rival  entertainment,  seemed  on  its  way  to 
complete  success.  Joceljn  Thew,  from  whose  man- 
ner there  seemed  to  have  departed  much  of  the  aus- 
terity of  the  previous  evening,  had  never  been  a  more 
brilliant  companion.  He,  who  spoke  so  seldom  of 
his  own  doings,  told  story  after  story  of  his  wan- 
derings in  distant  countries,  until  even  Katharine 
lost  her  fears  of  the  situation  and  abandoned  herself 
to  the  enjoyment  of  the  moment.  His  tone  was  kind- 
lier and  his  manner  more  natural.  He  spoke  with 
regret  of  Richard  Beverley's  departure  in  a  couple 
of  days,  and  only  once  did  he  hint  at  anything  in  the 
least  disturbing. 

"  Wonderful  feat,  that  of  you  fljnng  men,"  he  re- 
marked, "  dropping  ten  thousand  copies  of  Wilson's 
speech  over  the  German  lines.  I  am  not  sure  that  it 
isn't  rather  a  dangerous  precedent,  though." 

"  Why  dangerous  ?  "  Katharine  enquired. 

"  Because,"  he  answered  coolly,  "  it  might  suggest 
a  possible  means  of  communication  with  Germany  to 
a  person,  say,  like  myself." 

"  But  you  are  not  a  flj'ing  man,"  Katharine  re- 
minded him. 

He  smiled. 

"  It  would  not  be  necessary,"  he  observ^ed,  "  for 
me  to  be  my  own  messenger." 


210     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

There  was  a  brief  and  rather  a  blank  silence.  The 
shadow  of  a  new  fear  had  arisen  in  Katharine's  heart. 
The  brother  and  sister  exchanged  quick  glances. 

"  I  believe  I  am  right,"  their  host  went  on,  a  few 
minutes  later,  "  in  presuming  that  you  have  told 
Richard  here  the  details  of  our  little  adventure  upon 
the  City  of  Boston?  " 

"  I  have  told  him  everything,"  Katharine  acknowl- 
edged. "  You  don't  mind  that,  do  you?  I  felt  that 
I  had  to." 

"  You  were  quite  right,"  Jocelyn  Thew,  assented. 
*'  There  is  no  reason  for  you  to  keep  anything  secret 
from  Richard." 

The  young  man  was  conscious  of  a  sudden  recru- 
descence of  anger,  the  flaming  up  again  of  his  first 
resentment. 

"  The  whole  thing  was  a  rotten  business,  Thew," 
he  declared.  "  I  should  never  have  resented  your 
making  use  of  me  in  any  way  you  wished,  but  to  make 
a  tool  of  Katharine  — " 

"  My  dear  fellow,"  Jocelyn  Thew  interrupted, 
smoothly  but  with  a  dangerous  glitter  in  his  eyes, 
*'  please  don't  go  on.  I  have  an  idea  that  you  were 
going  to  say  something  offensive.  Better  not. 
Your  sister  came  to  no  real  harm.  She  never  ran 
any  real  risk." 

"  It  depends  upon  the  way  you  look  at  these 
things,"  the  young  man  replied  gloomily.  *'  Kath- 
arine tells  me  that  she  is  watched  at  her  hotel  day 
and  night,  and  that  she  has  come  under  the  suspicion 
of  the  Government  for  being  concerned  in  this  affair." 

"  That  really  isn't  of  much  account,"  the  other 
assured  him.     "  You  yourself,"  he  went  on,  "  came 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     211 

very  nearly  under  suspicion  once  for  something  in- 
finitely more  serious." 

It  was  a  chill  note  in  the  warmth  of  their  festivi- 
ties. Katharine  glanced  reproachfully  at  her  host, 
and  he  seemed  to  realise  at  once  his  lapse. 

"  Forgive  me,  both  of  you,"  he  begged.  "  I  fear 
that  I  am  a  little  irritable  to-night.  This  constant 
espionage  gets  on  one's  nerves.  Look  at  them  all 
around  us, —  Crawshay  in  the  corner,  trying  his  best 
to  get  something  incriminating  out  of  Nora  Sharey ; 
Brightman  smoking  a  cigar  out  there,  with  his  eyes 
wandering  all  the  time  through  the  glass  screen  to- 
wards this  table ;  and  the  young  man  who  seemed  to 
haunt  your  hotel,  Miss  Beverley  —  Henshaw  I  be- 
lieve his  name  is  —  you  see  him  dining  there  with  his 
back  turned  ostentatiously  towards  us  and  a  little 
pocket  mirror  by  his  side.  There  are  three  pairs 
of  eyes  that  scarcely  ever  leave  us.  I  don't  know 
whether  they  expect  me  to  produce  my  spoils  from 
my  pocket  and  lay  them  upon  the  ta'ble,  or  whether 
one  of  them  is  a  student  of  the  lip  language  and 
hopes  to  learn  the  secrets  of  our  conversation.  Bah! 
They  are  very  stupid,  this  professional  potpourri  of 
secret-service  agents  and  detectives.  Can't  you  hear 
them,  how  they  will  whisper  in  the  lobby  after  we 
have  left.''  — '  Jocelyn  Thew  is  entertaining  a  young 
Flying  Corps  man  on  leave  from  the  front,  the 
brother  of  Miss  Beverley,  who  has  already  helped 
him.  What  does  that  mean.'' '  Then  they  will  put 
their  fingers  to-  their  noses  and  you,  too,  will  prob- 
ably be  watched,  Dick.  They  will  congratulate  them- 
selves upon  possessing  the  subtlety  of  the  Devil. 
They  will  see  through  my  scheme.     They  will  say  — 


212     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

'  This  young  man  is  to  drop  the  documents  behind 
the  German  lines ! '  Don't  be  alarmed,  Richard,  if 
you  find  a  secret  service  man  in  your  bedroom  when 
you  get  home  to-night." 

Katliarine  laughed  almost  joyously. 

"  Then  you're  not  going  to  ask  Dick  to  do  any- 
thing of  that  sort.''  "  she  demanded,  her  tone  indi- 
cating an  immense  relief. 

He  smiled. 

"  I  am  not  going  to  ask  your  brother  to  do  any- 
thing which  is  so  palpably  obvious,"  he  replied. 
"  His  help  I  am  certainly  going  to  engage,  but  in  a 
manner  which  is  very  unlikely  to  bring  trouble  upon 
him.     I  promise  you  that." 

She  suddenly  leaned  across  the  table.  The  cloud 
had  passed  from  her  features,  the  dull  weight  from 
her  heart.  Her  eyes  were  more  eloquent  even  than 
her  tremulous  lips. 

"  Mr.  Thew,"  she  said,  "  do  you  know  that  I  have 
always  had  one  conviction  about  you,  and  that  is 
that  all  these  strange  adventures  in  which  you  have 
taken  part  —  some  of  them,  as  3'ou  yourself  have 
acknowledged,  more  creditable  than  others  —  you 
have  entered  into  chiefly  from  that  spirit  of  adven- 
ture, just  the  spirit  in  which  Dick  here,"  she  added 
with  a  little  shiver,  "  made  his  mistake.  Why  can't 
you  satisfy  that  part  of  your  nature  as  Dick  is 
doing?  This  war,  upon  which  we  Americans  looked 
so  coldly  at  first,  has  become  almost  a  holy  war,  a 
twentieth-century  crusade.  Why  don't  you  join  one 
of  these  irregular  forces  and  fight?  " 

Then  they  both  witnessed  what  they  had  never 
before  seen  in  Jocelyn  Thew.     They  saw  his  eyes 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     213 

blaze  with  a  sudden  concentrated  fury.  They  saw 
his  lips  part  and  something  that  was  almost  a  snarl 
transform  and  disfigure  his  mouth. 

"  Fight  for  England?  "  he  exclaimed  bitterly.  "  I 
would  sooner  cut  off  my  right  hand  !  " 

His  words  left  them  at  first  speechless.  He,  too, 
after  his  little  outburst  seemed  shaken,  lacking  in  his 
usual  sangfroid.  It  was  Katharine  who  first  recov- 
ered herself. 

"  But  you  are  English  ?  "  she  protested  wonder- 
ingly. 

"Am  I?"  he  replied.  "Will  you  forgive  me  if 
I  beg  you  to  change  the  subject?  " 

The  subject  was  effectually  changed  for  them  by 
the  advent  of  some  of  Richard  Beverley's  brothers  in 
arms.  It  was  some  time  before  they  passed  on. 
Then  a  little  note  almost  of  tragedy  concluded  the 
feast.  A  tall  and  elderly  man,  gaunt,  with  sunken 
cheeks,  silver-white  hair,  complexion  curiously  waxen, 
and  big,  dark  eyes,  left  the  table  where  he  had  been 
sitting  with  a  few  Americans  and  came  over  towards 
them.  His  advance  was  measured,  almost  ab- 
normally slow.  His  manner  would  have  been  melo- 
dramatic but  for  its  intense  earnestness.  He  stood 
at  their  table  for  a  few  seconds  before  speaking,  his 
eyes  fixed  upon  Jocelyn  Thew's  in  a  curious,  almost 
unnatural  stare. 

"  You  will  forgive  me,"  he  said.  "  I  must  be 
speaking  to  Sir  Denis  Cathley?  " 

Neither  of  the  two  young  people,  who  were  filled 
with  wonder  at  the  strange  appearance  of  the  new- 
comer, noticed  Joceh'n  Thew's  sudden  grip  of  the 
tablecloth,  the  tightening  of  his  frame,  the  ominous 


214     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

contraction  of  his  eyebrows  as  for  a  moment  he  sat 
there  speecliless.  Then  he  was  himself  again.  He 
shook  his  head  courteously. 

"  I  am  afraid,"  he  replied,  "  that  you  must  be  mak- 
ing some  mistake.     My  name  is  Jocelyn  Thew." 

"  And  mine,"  the  stranger  announced,  "  is  Michael 
Dilwyn.      Is  that  name  known  to  you?  " 

"  Perfectly  well,"  Jocelyn  Thew  acknowledged. 
"  I  was  present  at  the  production  of  your  last  play  in 
New  York.  I  have  since  read  with  much  regret," 
he  went  on  courteously,  "  of  the  losses  you  have  sus- 
tained." 

The  old  man's  wonderful  eyes  flashed  for  a  mo- 
ment. 

"  They  are  losses  I  am  proud  to  endure,  sir,"  he 
said.  "  But  I  did  not  come  to  speak  of  myself.  I 
came  to  speak  to  Sir  Denis  Cathley." 

Jocelyn  Thew  shook  his  head. 

"  It  is  a  likeness  which  deceives  you,"  he  declared. 

"  A  likeness  !  "  the  other  repeated.  "  Nine  weeks 
ago  I  stood  in  a  ruined  mansion  —  so  dilapidated,  in 
fact,  that  one  corner  of  it  is  open  to  the  skies.  I 
listened  to  the  roar  of  the  Atlantic  as  I  heard  it  in 
the  same  place  fifty  years  ago.  A  herdsman  and  his 
wife,  perhaps  a  girl  or  two,  live  somewhere  in  the 
back  quarters.  The  only  apartment  in  any  sort  of 
preservation  is  the  one  sometimes  called  the  picture 
gallery  and  sometimes  the  banqueting  hall.  You 
should  visit  this  ruined  mansion,  sir.  You  should 
visit  it  before  you  give  me  the  lie  when  I  call  you 
Sir  Denis  Cathley." 

Jocelyn  Thew's  hand  for  a  moment  shielded  part 
of  his  face,  as  though  he  found  the  electric  light  a 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     215 

little  strong.  From  behind  the  shelter  of  his  palm 
his  eyes  met  the  eyes  of  his  visitor.  The  latter  sud- 
denly turned  and  bowed  to  Katharine. 

"  You  will  forgive  an  old  man,"  he  begged  cour- 
teously, "  who  has  seen  much  trouble  lately,  for  his 
iU  manners.  Perhaps  your  friend  here,  your  friend 
whose  name  is  not  Sir  Denis  Cathley,  can  explain  to 
you  why  I  felt  some  emotion  at  the  sight  of  so  won- 
derful a  likeness." 

He  bowed,  murmured  some  broken  words  in  reply 
to  Katharine's  kindl}'  little  speech,  and  moved  away. 
Jocelyn  Thew's  eyes  watched  him  with  a  curious  soft- 
ness. 

"  Yes,"  he  acknowledged,  "  I  can  tell  you  why,  if 
he  really  saw  a  likeness  in  me  to  the  person  he 
spoke  of,  it  might  remind  him  of  strange  things. 
You  know  him  by  name,  of  course  —  Michael 
Dilwyn.?" 

"  He  wrote  the  wonderful  Sinn  Fein  play,  '  The 
New  Green,'  didn't  he.''  "  Katharine  asked  eagerly. 
*'  I  heard  you  mention  it  to  him.  My  aunt  and  I 
were  there  at  the  first  night." 

"  He  wrote  that  and  some  more  wonderful  poetry. 
He  has  spent  more  than  half  his  life  working  for  the 
cause  of  Ireland.  He  was  the  father  and  patriarch 
of  the  last  rising.  One  of  his  sons  was  shot  at  Dub- 
lin." 

"  And  who  is  Sir  Denis  Cathley?  " 

"  The  Cathleys  are  another  so-called  revolutionary 
family,"  Jocelyn  Thew  explained.  "  The  late  Sir 
Denis,  the  father  of  the  man  whom  he  supposed  me 
to  be,  was  Michael  Dilwyn's  closest  friend.  They, 
toOj  have  paid  a  heavy  price  for  their  patriotism  or 


2i6     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

their  rebellious  instincts,  whichever  way  you  choose 
to  look  at  the  matter." 

"  I  think,"  Katharine  declared,  "  that  Mr.  Dilwyn 
is  the  most  picturesque-looking  man  I  ever  saw.  I 
don't  believe  that  even  now  he  is  altogether  convinced 
as  to  your  identity." 

"  He  has  probably  reached  an  age,"  was  the  cool 
reply,  "  when  his  memory  begins  to  suffer. —  Ah ! 
I  see  our  friend  Crawshay  is  taking  counsel  with 
Henshaw.  They  are  looking  in  this  direction. 
Richard,  m}^  young  friend,  you  are  in  a  bad  way. 
Suspicion  is  beginning  to  fasten  upon  you.  Believe 
me,  one  of  my  parasites  will  be  on  your  track  to- 
night. I  can  almost  convince  myself  as  to  their 
present  subject  of  conversation.  They  are  preen- 
ing themselves  upon  having  seen  through  my  subtle 
scheme.  I  am  very  sure  they  are  asking  them- 
selves — *  W3ien  is  the  transfer  of  documents  to  take 
place?'" 

"  It  may  all  seem  very  humorous  to  you,"  the 
young  man  remarked,  a  little  sullenly,  "  but  it  leaves 
a  sort  of  nasty  flavour  in  one's  mouth,  all  the  same. 
If  they  were  to  suspect  me  of  trying  to  drop  docu- 
ments over  the  German  lines  except  under  instruc- 
tions, it  would  mean  a  court-martial,  even  though 
they  were  unable  to  prove  anything,  and  a  firing 
party  in  five  minutes  if  they  were." 

"  Take  heart,  my  young  friend,"  Jocelyn  Thew 
advised  him,  "  and  do  not  refuse  the  Cour\'oisier 
brandy  which  our  saintly  friend  with  the  chain  is 
proffering.  If  it  is  not  indeed  a  relic  of  the  Napo- 
leonic era,  it  is  at  least  drinkable.  And  listen  — 
this  may  help  you  to  drink  it  with  zest  —  I  am  not 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     217 

going  to  ask  you  to  drop  any  documents  over  the 
German  lines." 

The  thankfulness  in  Katharine's  face  was  reflected 
in  her  brother's. 

"  Thank  God  for  that ! "  he  exclaimed,  helping 
himself  liberally  to  the  brandy.  "  You  know  I'd  find 
it  hard  to  refuse  you  anything,  Thew,  but  there  are 
limits.  Besides,  you  are  never  really  out  of  sight 
there.  We  go  out  in  squadrons,  and  from  the  height 
we  fly  at  nothing  I  could  drop  would  be  very  likely  to 
reach  its  destination." 

Jocelyn  Thew  smiled  coldly. 

"  My  dear  Richard,"  he  said,  "  I  am  not  going  to 
make  you  an  unwilling  partner  in  any  foolhardy 
scheme  such  as  you  are  thinking  of,  because  that  is 
just  the  dbvious  thing  that  our  friends  who  take  so 
much  interest  in  us  would  expect  and  prepare  for. 
All  the  same,  there  is  just  a  trifling  commission  which 
I  will  ask  you  to  undertake  for  me,  and  which  I  will 
explain  to  you  later.     When  do  you  leave.''  " 

"  Ten  o'clock  train  from  Charing  Cross  on  Monday 
night,"  the  young  man  replied.  "  I  have  to  fly  on 
Tuesday  morning." 

"  Then  if  it  pleases  you  we  wiU  all  dine  here  that 
night,"  Jocelyn  Thew  suggested,  "  and  I  will  take  you 
on  to  the  Alhambra  for  an  hour.  Doctor  Gant  and 
I  were  there  our  first  night  in  town,  and  we  found  the 
performance  excellent.  You  will  honour  me.  Miss 
Beverley?  " 

"  I  shall  be  delighted,"  she  answered,  "-but  I  am 
not  at  all  sure  that  you  will  be  able  to  get  seats  at 
the  Alhambra." 

"Why  not.?^"  he  asked. 


2i8     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  There  is  a  great  benefit  performance  there  on 
Monday  night,"  she  told  him.  "  The  house  is  closed 
now  for  rehearsals.  All  the  stalls  have  gone  already, 
and  the  boxes  are  to  be  sold  by  auction  at  the  Theat- 
rical Fete." 

Jocel^'n  Thew  was  for  a  moment  grave. 

"  I  am. very  glad  that  you  told  me  this,"  he  said, 
*'  but  I  think  that  I  can  nevertheless  promise  you 
the  stage  box  for  Monday  night.  I  have  a  call  on 
it.  We  must  all  meet  once  more.  It  is  just  pos- 
sible that  I  may  have  a  pleasant  surprise  for  both 
of  you." 

"  Do  give  us  an  idea  what  it  is,"  she  begged. 

He  shook  his  head.  Somehow,  since  the  coming 
of  Michael  Dilwyn,  a  tired  look  had  crept  into  his 
eyes.  He  seemed  to  have  lost  all  his  old  vivacity. 
He  had  paid  the  bill  some  time  before  and  they 
strolled  together  now  into  the  lounge.  Katharine 
was  carrying  half  a  dozen  of  the  roses,  which  the 
waiter  had  pressed  into  her  hand. 

"  To-night,"  she  said,  looking  up  into  his  face 
and  dropping  her  voice  a  little,  "  I  am  feeling  so 
much  happier  —  happier  than  I  have  felt  for  a  long 
time.  Why  do  you  keep  us  both,  Mr.  Thew,  in  such 
a  state  of  uneasiness?  You  give  us  so  little  of  your 
real  confidence,  so  little  of  j'our  real  self.  Some- 
times it  seems  as  though  you  deliberately  try  to  make 
yourself  out  a  harder,  crueller  person  than  you 
really  are.     Why  do  you  do  that.'*  " 

For  a  moment  she  fancied  that  the  impossible  had 
happened,  that  she  had  penetrated  the  armour  of 
that  steadfast  and  studied  indifference. 

"  We  are  all  just  a  little  the  fools  of   circum- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     219 

stance,"  he  sighed.  "  A  will  to  succeed  sometimes, 
if  it  is  strong  enough,  crushes  out  things  we  would 
like  to  keep  alive." 

She  thrust  one  of  the  blossoms  which  she  was 
carrying  through  his  buttonhole. 

"  I  know  you  will  hate  that,"  she  whispered,  "  but 
you  can  take  it  out  the  moment  you  have  gotten  rid 
of  us.  Dick  and  I  are  going  on  now,  you  know,  to 
the  Esholt  House  dance.  Shall  I  thank  you  for  your 
dinner?  " 

"Or  I  you  for  your  company?"  he  murmured, 
bowing  over  her  fingers. 

They  took  their  leave,  and  Jocelyn  Thew,  almost 
as  though  against  his  will,  walked  back  into  the  foyer, 
after  a  few  minutes  of  hesitation,  and  sat  there  twirl- 
ing the  rose  between  his  fingers,  with  his  eyes  fixed 
upon  the  interior  of  the  restaurant.  He  had  the 
air  of  one  waiting. 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

Crawshay  was  awakened  the  next  morning  a  little 
before  the  customary  hour  by  his  servant,  who  held 
out  a  card. 

"  Gentleman  would  like  a  word  with  you  at  once, 
sir,"  the  latter  announced. 

Crawshay  glanced  at  the  card,  slipped  out  of  bed, 
and,  attired  in  his  dressing  gown  and  slippers,  made 
an  apologetic  entrance  into  the  sitting  room.  The 
young  man  who  was  waiting  there  received  him 
kindly,  but  obviously  disapproved  of  the  pattern  of 
his  dressing  gown. 

"  Chief  wants  a  word  with  you,  sir,"  he  announced. 
*'  He  is  keeping  from  ten  to  ten-thirty." 

"  I  will  be  there,"  Crawshay  promised,  "  on  the 
stroke  of  ten." 

"  Then  I  need  not  detain  you  further,"  his  visi- 
tor remarked,  making  a  graceful  exit. 

Crawshay  bathed,  shaved  and  breakfasted,  and  at 
five  minutes  before  ten  entered  an  imposing-looking 
building  and  sent  up  his  card  to  a  very  great  man, 
who  had  a  fancy  for  being  spoken  of  in  his  depart- 
ment as  Mr.  Brown.  After  a  very  brief  delay,  he 
was  admitted  to  the  august  presence.  Mr.  Brown 
waved  his  secretaries  from  the  room,  shook  hands 
kindly  with  Crawshay  and  motioned  him  to  a  chair 
close  to  his  own. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     221 

"  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  said,  "  this  is  the  first  time 
I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  you,  but  we  have 
received  at  various  times  excellent  reports  as  to  your 
work  at  Washington." 

"  I  am  very  pleased  to  hear  it,  sir." 

"  From  what  I  gather  as  to  the  present  situation, 
however,"  the  great  man  continued,  "  I  imagine  that 
you  were  more  successful  in  the  conventional  secret 
service  work  than  j^ou  have  been  in  the  very  grave 
business  I  have  sent  for  you  to  discuss." 

"  I  should  like  to  point  out,  sir,"  Crawshay  begged^ 
"  that  that  foolish  journey  to  Halifax  was  under- 
taken entirely  against  my  convictions.  I  protested 
at  the  time!  Neither  had  I  any  confidence  in  the 
summons  to  Chicago." 

Mr.  Brown  took  the  circumstance  into  gracious 
consideration. 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  that,"  he  said,  "  and  I  must 
admit  that  your  recovery  was  almost  brilliant.  A 
sense  of  humour,"  he  went  on,  "  sometimes  obtrudes 
itself  into  the  most  serious  incidents,  and  the  idea 
of  your  boarding  that  steamer  from  a  seaplane  and 
then  getting  to  work  upon  your  investigations  will 
always  remain  to  me  one  of  the  priceless  unrecorded 
incidents  of  the  war.  But  to  put  the  matter  into 
plain  words,  our  enemies  got  the  better  of  you." 

"  Absolutely,"  was  the  honest  confession. 

"  There  is  no  doubt,"  the  right  honourable  gentle- 
man continued,  "  that  the  person  who  took  charge 
of  this  affair  is  exceedingly  clever.  He  appears  to 
have  resource  and  daring.  Personally,  I,  like  you, 
never  believed  for  a  moment  that  the  whole  of  the 
records  of  German  espionage  in  America  for  the  last 


222     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

three  years,  would  be  found  upon  the  same  steamer 
as  that  by  which  the  departing  ambassadorial  staff 
travelled.  However,  I  can  quite  see  that  under 
the  circumstances  you  had  to  yield  to  the  convic- 
tions of  those  who  were  already  in  charge  of  the 
afFair." 

"You  have  had  full  reports,  sir,  I  suppose?" 
Crawshay  asked.  "  You  know  the  manner  in  which 
the  documents  were  brought  into  this  country .''  " 

"  A  ghastly  business,"  Mr.  Brown  acknowledged, 
*'  ingenious  but  ghastly.  Yes,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he 
went  on,  "  I  think  I  have  been  kept  pretty  well  posted 
up  till  now.  I  have  sent  for  you  because  I  am  not 
sure  whether  one  point  has  been  sufficiently  impressed 
upon  you.  As  you  are  of  course  aware,  there  are 
many  documents  and  details  connected  with  this 
propaganda  which  are  of  immense  value  to  the  police 
of  New  York,  but  there  is  just  one  —  a  letter  written 
in  a  moment  of  impulse  by  one  great  personage  to 
another,  and  stolen  —  which  might  do  the  cause  of 
the  Allies  incalculable  harm  if  it  were  to  fall  into  the 
wrong  hands." 

"  I  had  a  hint  of  this,  sir.  Mason  knew  of  it,  too. 
His  idea  was  that  they  would  be  quite  willing  to  de- 
stroy all  the  rest  of  the  treasonable  stuff  they  have, 
if  they  could  be  sure  of  getting  this  one  letter 
through." 

"  The  documents  have  been  in  England  now,"  Mr. 
Brown  observed,  "  for  some  days.  Have  you  formed 
any  theory  at  all  as  to  where  they  may  be  con- 
cealed .-^  " 

"  To  be  perfectly  frank,"  Crawshay  confessed,  "  I 
have  not.     Doctor  Gant,  Jocelyn  Thew,   a   young 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     223 

woman  called  Nora  Sharey,  and  Miss  Beverley  are 
the  four  people  possibly  implicated  in  their  disap- 
pearance, although  of  these  two  I  consider  Miss 
Sharey  and  Miss  Beverley  out  of  the  question.  Nev- 
ertheless, their  rooms  and  every  scrap  of  property 
they  possess  have  been  searched  thoroughly,  and 
their  movements  since  they  arrived  in  London  are 
absolutely  tabulated.  Not  one  of  them  has  written 
a  letter  or  dispatched  a  parcel  which  has  not  been 
investigated,  nor  have  they  made  a  call  or  even  en- 
tered a  shop  without  being  watched.  It  seems  abso- 
lutely impossible  that  they  can  have  taken  any  steps 
towards  the  disposal  of  the  documents  since  Jocelyn 
Thew  arrived  in  London." 

"  Have  they  given  any  indication  of  their  future 
plans?  " 

"  Doctor  Gant,"  Crawshay  rephed,  "  has  booked  a 
passage  back  in  the  American  boat  which  sails  for 
Liverpool  early  to-morrow  morning.  We  shall  es- 
cort him  there,  and  his  effects  will  be  searched  once 
more  in  Liverpool.  Otherwise,  we  have  no  intention 
of  detaining  him.  He  and  Miss  Beverley  were  sim- 
ply the  tools  of  the  other  man." 

"  And  the  other  man  ?  " 

"  He  has  shown  no  signs  of  making  any  move  what- 
soever. He  lives,  to  all  appearance,  the  perfectly 
normal  life  of  a  man  of  leisure.  I  understand  that 
he  is  entirely  a  newcomer  to  this  sort  of  business,  but 
he  is,  without  a  dou'bt,  the  most  modern  thing  in 
secret  service.  He  lives  quite  openly  at  a  small  suite 
in  the  Savoy  Court.  He  never  makes  the  slightest 
concealment  about  any  of  his  movements.  We  know 
how  he  has  spent  every  second  of  his  time  since  we 


224     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

first  took  up  the  search,  and  I  can  assure  you  that 
there  is  not  a  single  suspicious  incident  recorded 
against  him." 

"  You  are  satisfied,"  Mr.  Brown  asked,  "  with  the 
aid  which  you  are  getting  from  Scotland  Yard?  " 

"Absolutely,"  Crawshay  declared.  "  Brightman, 
too  —  the  man  who  came  down  with  me  from  Liver- 
pool —  has  done  excellent  work." 

"  And  notwithstanding  all  this,"  was  the  some- 
what grave  criticism,  "  you  have  not  the  slightest 
idea  where  these  documents  are  to  be  found?  " 

"  Not  the  slightest,"  Crawshay  confessed.  "  All 
that  I  do  feel  convinced  of  is  that  they  have  not  left 
the  country." 

The  great  man  leaned  back  a  little  wearily  in  his 
chair.  There  were  some  decoded  cables,  lying  un- 
der a  paper  weight  by  his  side,  imploring  him  in  the 
strongest  possible  terms  to  make  use  of  every  means 
within  his  power  to  solve  this  mystery, —  a  personal 
appeal  from  a  man  whose  good  will  might  sway  the 
balance  of  the  future.  He  was  used  to  wonderful 
service  in  every  department  he  controlled.  His  pres- 
ent sense  of  impotence  was  galling. 

"  Tell  me,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  asked,  "  how  long 
was  the  gap  of  time  between  your  losing  sight  of 
Jocelyn  Thew  and  when  you  picked  him  up  in  Lon- 
don?" 

"  Very  short  indeed,"  was  the  emphatic  reply. 
"  Jocelyn  Thew  must  have  left  the  City  of  Boston 
at  about  eight  o'clock  on  Monday  morning.  He  met 
Gant  at  five  o'clock  that  evening  at  Crewe  station. 
Gant  had  come  direct  from  Frisby,  the  little  village 
near  Chester  where  he  had  left  the  body  of  Phillips. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     225 

It  is  obvious,  therefore,  that  Gant  had  the  papers 
with  him  when  he  joined  Jocelyn  Thew.  They  trav- 
elled to  London  together  but  parted  at  Euston,  Gant 
going  to  a  cheap  hotel  in  the  vicinity  of  Regent 
Street,  whilst  Thew  drove  to  the  Savoy.  Gant  called 
at  the  Savoy  Hotel  at  nine  o'clock  that  evening,  and 
the  two  men  dined  together  in  the  grill  room  and 
took  a  box  at  a  music  hall  —  the  Alhambra.  Up  to 
this  time  neither  of  them  had  received  a  visitor  or 
dispatched  a  message  —  Thew,  in  fact,  had  spent 
more  than  an  hour  in  the  barber's  shop.  They  re- 
turned from  the  Alhambra  together,  went  up  to 
Thew's  rooms,  had  a  drink  and  separated  half  an 
hour  later.  This,  of  course,  is  in  a  sense  posthu- 
mous information,  but  Scotland  Yard  have  it  tab- 
ulated down  to  the  slightest  detail,  and  we  are  unable 
to  find  a  single  suspicious  circumstance  in  connection 
with  the  movements  of  either  man.  At  four  o'clock 
the  following  morning,  when  both  men  were  asleep 
in  their  rooms,  the  cordon  was  drawn  around  them. 
Since  then  they  haven't  had  a  chance." 

"  The  fact  that  the  papers  are  not  in  the  posses- 
sion of  either  of  them,"  Mr.  Brown  said  reflectively, 
"  proves  that  they  made  some  move  of  which  you 
have  no  record." 

"  Precisely,"  Crawshay  agreed,  "  but  it  must  have 
been  a  move  of  so  slight  a  character  that  chance  may 
reveal  it  to  us  at  any  moment." 

"  Describe  Jocelyn  Thew  to  me,"  Mr.  Brown 
begged. 

"  He  has  every  appearance,"  Crawshay  declared, 
"  of  being  a  man  of  breeding.  He  is  scarcely 
middle-aged  —  tall      and     of     athletic     build.     He 


226     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

dresses  well,  speaks  well,  and  I  should  take  him  any- 
■where  for  an  English  public  school  and  college 
man." 

"  Did  New  York  give  you  his  record?  " 

"  In  a  cloudy  sort  of  way.  He  seems  to  have  had 
a  most  interesting  career,  ranching  out  West,  fight- 
ing in  Mexico,  fighting  in  several  of  the  Central  Amer- 
ican states,  and  fighting,  I  shrewdly  suspect,  against 
England  in  South  Africa.  He  seems  to  have  been 
a  sort  of  stormy  petrel,  and  to  have  turned  up  in 
any  place  where  there  was  trouble.  In  New  York 
the  police  always  suspected  him  of  being  connected 
with  some  great  criminal  movements,  but  they  were 
never  able  to  iay  even  a  finger  upon  him.  He  lived 
at  one  of  the  best  hotels  in  the  city,  disappeared 
sometimes  for  days,  sometimes  for  weeks,  sometimes 
for  a  year,  but  always  returned  quite  quietly,  with 
apparently  any  amount  of  money  to  spend,  and  that 
queer  look  which  comes  to  a  man  who  has  been  up 
against  big  things." 

"  He  is  an  Englishman,  I  suppose?  " 

"  He  must  be.  His  accent  and  manners  and  ap- 
pearance are  all  unmistakable." 

"  How  long  was  he  suspected  of  being  in  the  pay 
of  our  enemies  before  this  thing  transpired?  " 

"  Only  a  very  short  time.  There  was  a  little  gang 
in  New  York  —  Rentoul,  the  man  who  had  the  wire- 
less in  Fifth  Avenue,  was  in  it  —  and  they  used  to 
meet  at  a  place  in  Fourteenth  Street,  belonging  to 
an  old  man  named  Sharey.  That's  where  Miss 
Sharey  comes  into  the  business.  There  were  some 
queer  things  done  there,  but  they  don't  concern  this 
business,  and  New  York  has  the  records  of  them." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     227 

"Joceljn  Thew,"  Mr.  Brown  repeated  slowly  to 
himself.     "  Where  did  you  say  he  was  staying?  " 

"  At  the  Savoy  Court." 

Mr.  Brown  looked  fixedly  at  the  cables,  fluttering  a 
little  in  the  breeze  which  blew  in  through  the  half- 
open  window. 

"  All  this  isn't  very  encouraging,  Mr.  Crawshay," 
he  sighed. 

"  Up  to  the  present  no,"  the  former  admitted. 
"  Yet  I  can  promise  you  one  thing,  sir.  Those 
papers  shall  not  leave  the  country." 

"  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  speak  with  so  much  con- 
fidence," Mr.  Brown  observed  drily.  "  Mr.  Jocelyn 
Thew  seems  at  any  rate  to  have  managed  to  secrete 
them  without  difficulty." 

"  That  may  be  so,"  Crawshay  acknowledged,  "  and 
yet  I  am  convinced  of  one  thing.  They  are  disposed 
of  in  some  perfectly  obvious  way,  and  within  the  next 
forty-eight  hours  he  will  make  some  effort  to  repos- 
sess himself  of  them.     If  he  does,  he  will  fail." 

Mr.  Brown  glanced  at  his  watch. 

"  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  coming  to  see 
me,"  he  said.  "  You  are  doing  your  best,  I  know, 
and  I  beg  you,  Mr.  Crawshay,  never  for  a  moment  to 
let  your  efforts  relax.  The  mechanical  side  of  the 
watch  that  is  being  kept  upon  these  people  I  know 
we  can  rely  upon,  but  you  must  remember  that  you 
are  the  brains  of  this  enterprise.  Your  little  band 
of  watchers  will  be  quick  enough  to  see  the  things  that 
happen  and  the  things  that  exist.  It  is  you  who 
must  watch  for  the  things  which  don't  happen." 

Crawshay  smiled  slightly  as  he  rose  to  take  his 
leave. 


228     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  do  not  as  a  rule  suffer  from  over-confidence, 
sir,"  he  said,  "  but  I  think  I  can  promise  you  that  by 
Wednesday  night  not  only  will  the  papers  be  in  our 
hands,  but  Mr.  Jocelyn  Thew  will  be  so  disposed  of 
that  he  will  be  no  longer  an  object  of  anxiety  to  us." 

"  Get  on  with  the  good  work,  then,"  was  Mr. 
Brown's  laconic  farewell. 

Late  on  the  following  afternoon,  Jocelyn  Thew 
and  Gant  paced  the  long  platform  at  Euston,  by  the 
side  of  which  the  special  for  the  American  boat  was 
already  drawn  up.  Curiously  enoaigh,  in  their  im- 
mediate vicinity  Mr.  Brightman  was  also  seeing  a 
friend  off,  and  on  the  outskirts  of  the  little  throng 
Mr.  Henshaw  was  taking  an  intelligent  interest  in 
the  scene. 

"  Perhaps,  after  all,"  Jocelyn  Thew  declared, 
"  you  are  right  to  go.  You  have  been  very  useful, 
and  you  Iiave,  without  a  doubt,  earned  your  thou- 
sand pounds." 

"  It  was  easy  money,"  the  other  admitted,  "  but 
even  now  I  am  nervous.  I  shall  be  glad  to  be  back 
once  more  in  my  own  country." 

"  You  are  certainly  right  to  go,"  the  other  re- 
peated. "  If  you  had  been  different,  if  you  had 
been  one  of  those  men  after  my  own  heart,"  Jocelyn 
Thew  went  on,  resting  his  hand  for  a  moment  upon 
Gant's  shoulder,  "  one  of  those  who,  apart  from 
thought  of  gain  or  hope  of  profit,  love  adventure  for 
its  own  sake,  I  should  have  begged  you  to  stay  with 
me.  I  would  have  sent  you  on  bogus  errands  to  mys- 
terious places.  I  would  have  twisted  the  brains  of 
those  who  have  fastened  upon  us  in  a  hundred  diflTer- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     229 

ent  fashions.  But  alas,  my  friend,  you  are  not  like 
that  t " 

"  I  am  not,"  Gfent  admitted,  gruffly  but  heartily. 
*'  I  have  done  a  job  for  you,  and  you  have  paid  me 
very  well.  I  am  glad  to  have  done  it,  because  I  love 
Germany  and  I  do  not  love  England.  Apart  from 
that  my  work  is  finished.  I  like  to  go  home.  I  am 
happiest  with  my  wife  and  family." 

"  Quite  so,"  his  companion  agreed.  "  I  know  your 
type,  Gant  —  in  fact,  I  chose  you  because  of  it. 
You  like,  as  you  say,  to  do  your  job  and  finish  with 
it, —  and  you  have  finished." 

The  doctor  turned  for  a  moment  deliberately  round 
and  looked  at  his  companion.  He  was  a  heavy- 
browed,  unimaginative,  quiet-living  man.  The  things 
which  passed  before  his  eyes  counted  with  him,  and 
little  else.  The  thousand  pounds  which  he  was  tak- 
ing home  was  more  than  he  had  been  able  to  save 
throughout  his  life.  To  him  it  represented  immense 
things.  He  would  probably  not  spend  a  dollar  more, 
or  indulge  in  a  single  luxury,  yet  the  money  was 
there  in  the  background,  a  warm,  comforting 
thing. 

"  You  have  still,"  he  said,  "  a  desperate  part  to 
play.  Can  you  tell  me  honestly  that  you  enjoy  it, 
that  you  have  no  fear?  " 

Jocelyn  Thew  repeated  the  word  almost  wonder- 
ingly. 

"  Fear !  Do  you  really  know  me  so  little,  my 
friend  of  few  perceptions?  Listen  and  I  will  con- 
fess something.  I  have  fought  for  my  life  at  least 
a  dozen  times,  fought  against  odds  which  seemed 
almost  hopeless.     I  have   seen   death   with  hungry. 


230     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

outstretched  arms,  within  a  few  seconds'  reach  of 
me,  but  I  have  never  felt  fear.  I  do  not  know  what 
it  is.  The  length  of  one's  life  is  purely  a  relative 
thing.  It  will  come  in  ten  or  twenty  j-ears,  if  not 
to-morrow.     Why  not  to-morrow?  " 

"  If  you  put  it  like  that,"  Gant  grunted,  "  why 
not  to-day?  " 

"  Or  at  any  moment,  if  you  will.  I  am  quite 
ready,  as  ready  as  I  ever  shall  be.  If  I  fail  to  bring 
off  what  I  desire  within  the  next  few  days,  there  will 
be  an  end  of  me.  Do  I  look  as  though  I  were  worry- 
ing about  that?  " 

"  You  don't  indeed,"  the  doctor  agreed.  "  You 
ought  to  have  been  in  my  profession.  You  might 
have  become  the  greatest  surgeon  in  the  world." 

Jocelyn  Thew  shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  Even  that  is  possible,"  he  admitted.  "  Unfortu- 
nately, there  was  a  cloud  over  my  early  days,  a  cloud 
heavy  enough  even  to  prevent  my  offering  my  services 
to  the  world  through  the  medium  of  any  of  the  recog- 
nized professions.  So  you  see,  Gant,  I  had  to  invent 
one  of  my  own.  What  would  you  call  it,  I  wonder? 
—  Buccaneer?  Adventurer?  Explorer?  Perhaps 
my  enemies  would  find  a  more  unkind  word. —  Now 
you  had  better  step  in  and  take  your  seat.  Behold 
the  creatures  of  our  friend  Brightman  and  the  satel- 
lites of  the  aristocratic  Crawshay  close  in  upon  us ! 
They  listen  for  farewell  words.  Is  this  your  car- 
riage? Very  well.  Here  comes  your  porter,  hun- 
gry for  remuneration.  Shall  I  give  them  a  hint, 
Gant?" 

There  flashed  in  the  hunted  man's  eyes  for  a  mo- 
ment a  gleam  of  almost  demoniacal  humour. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     231 

Gant  glowered  at  him.  "  You  are  mad !  "  he  ex- 
claimed. 

"  Not  I,  mj  dear  friend,"  Jocelyn  Thew  assured 
him,  as  he  gripped  his  hand  in  a  farewell  salute. 
"  Believe  me,  it  is  not  I  who  am  mad.  It  is  these 
stupid  people  who  search  for  what  they  can  never 
find.  They  lift  up  the  Stars  and  Stripes  and  find 
nothing.  They  lift  up  the  Union  Jack ;  again  noth- 
ing. They  try  the  Tricolour ;  rien  de  tout.  But  if 
they  have  the  sense  to  try  the  Crescent  —  eh,  Gant  ? 
—  Well,  a  safe  voyage  to  you,  man.  Sleep  in  your 
waistcoat,  and  remember  me  to  every  one  in  New 
York.  I  can't  promise  when  I  shall  be  back.  I 
have  taken  a  fancy  to  England.  Still,  one  never 
knows. —  Good-by." 

Thew  watched  the  long  train  crawl  out  of  the  sta- 
tion, waved  his  hand  in  farewell,  forced  a  greeting 
upon  the  reluctant  Brightman,  whom  he  passed  ex- 
amining the  magazines  upon  a  bookstall,  and,  sum- 
moning a  taxi,  was  duly  deposited  at  the  Alhambra 
Theatre.     He  made  his  way  to  the  box  office. 

"  I  have  called,"  he  explained  to  the  young  man, 
"  to  see  you  about  Box  A  on  Monday  night.  I  un- 
derstand that  there  is  a  benefit  performance." 

"  Quite  so,  sir,"  the  young  man  replied,  "  and  I 
ought  to  have  explained  the  matter  to  you  at  the 
time,  when  you  engaged  the  box.  If  you  will  remem- 
ber, although  you  took  it  for  a  week,  you  only  paid 
for  five  nights.  I  omitted  to  tell  you  that  for  Mon- 
day night  the  box  is  not  ours  to  dispose  of." 

"It  isn't  yet  sold,  I  hope.?" 

"  Not  yet,  sir.  The  boxes  will  be  disposed  of  by 
auction  to-morrow  afternoon  at  the  Theatrical  Gar- 


232     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

den  Party.  Mr.  Bobby  is  going  to  act  as  auction- 
eer." 

"  I  see,"  Jocelyn  Thew  said  thoughtfully.  "  The 
performance  is,  I  believe,  on  behalf  of  the  Red 
Cross?" 

"  That  is  so." 

"  In  that  case,  supposing  I  offer  you  now  one  hun- 
dred guineas  for  the  box?  " 

"  Very  generous  indeed,  sir,"  the  young  man  ad- 
mitted, "  but  we  are  pledged  to  allow  all  the  boxes  to 
be  sold  by  Mr.  Bobby.  I  think  that  if  you  are  pre- 
pared to  go  to  that  sum,  you  will  have  no  difficulty 
in  securing  it." 

Jocelyn  Thew  frowned  slightly. 

"  I  wasn't  thinking  of  going  to  the  Theatrical  Gar- 
den Party,"  he  remarked. 

"  You  could  perhaps  get  a  friend  to  bid  for  you, 
sir,"  the  young  man  suggested.  "  We  hope  to  get 
fifty  guineas  for  the  large  boxes,  but  I  should  think 
an  offer  such  as  yours  would  secure  any  one  of  them." 

"  I  rather  dislike  the  publicity  of  an  auction," 
Jocelyn  Thew  observed,  as  he  turned  to  take  his 
leave.  "  However,  if  charity  demands  it,  I  suppose 
one  must  waive  one's  prejudices." 

He  strolled  out  and  hesitated  for  a  moment  on  the 
pavement.  A  curious  change  had  taken  place  in 
what  a  few  hours  ago  had  seemed  to  be  a  perfect  sum- 
mer day.  The  clouds  were  thick  in  the  sky,  a  few 
drops  of  rain  were  already  falling,  and  a  cold  wind, 
like  the  presage  of  a  storm,  was  bending  the  trees 
in  the  square.  For  a  single  moment  he  was  con- 
scious of  an  unsuspected  weakness.  A  wave  of  de- 
pression swept  in  upon  him.     An  unreasoning  pre- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     233 

monition  of  failure  laid  a  cold  hand  upon  his  heart. 
He  met  the  careless  gaze  of  an  apparent  loiterer  who 
was  studying  the  placards  without  derision,  almost 
with  apprehension.  Then  he  ground  his  heel  into  the 
pavement  and  re-entered  his  taxicab. 
"  Savoy,"  he  directed. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 

Captain  Richard  Beverley,  on  his  way  through  the 
hotel  smoking  room  to  the  Savoy  bar,  stopped  short. 
He  looked  at  the  girl  who  had  half  risen  from  her 
scat  on  the  couch  with  a  sudden  impulse  of  half  star- 
tled recognition.  Her  little  smile  of  welcome  was 
entirely  convincing. 

"  Why,  it's  Nora  Sharey ! "  he  exclaimed. 
«  Nora  f" 

"  Well,  I  am  glad  you've  recognised  me  at  last," 
she  said,  laughing.  "  I  tried  to  make  you  see  me 
last  night  in  the  restaurant,  but  you  wouldn't  look." 

He  seemed  a  little  dazed,  even  after  he  had  saluted 
mechanically,  held  her  hand  for  a  moment  and  sank 
into  the  place  b}'  her  side. 

"  Nora  Sharey !  "  he  repeated.  "  Why,  it  was 
really  you,  then,  dining  last  night  with  that  fellow 
Crawshay.''  " 

"  Of  course  it  was,"  she  replied,  "  and  I  recognised 
you  at  once,  even  in  your  uniform." 

"  You  know  that  Jocelyn  Thew  is  here.''  You  saw 
him  with  us  last  night.'*  " 

"  Yes,  I  know." 

"  Stop  a  moment,"  Richard  Beverley  went  on. 
"  Let  me  think,  Nora.  Jocelyn  Thew  must  have 
seen  you  dining  with  Crawshay.  How  does  that  work 
out?" 

"  He  doesn't  mind,"  she  replied.     "  Let  that  stuff 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     235 

alone  for  a  time.  I  want  to  look  at  you.  You're 
fine,  Dick,  but  what  does  it  all  mean?  " 

"  I  couldn't  stick  the  ranch  after  the  war  broke 
out,"  he  confessed.  "  I  moved  up  into  Canada  and 
took  on  flying." 

"  You  are  fighting  out  there  in  France?  " 

"  Have  been  for  six  months.  Some  sport,  I  can 
tell  you,  Nora.  I've  got  a  little  machine  gun  that's 
a  perfect  daisy.  Gee!  I've  got  to  pull  up.  The 
hardest  work  we  fellows  have  sometimes  is  to  remem- 
ber that  we  mustn't  talk  about  our  job.  They  used 
to  call  me  undisciplined.  I'm  getting  it  into  my 
bones  now,  though. —  Why,  Nora,  this  is  queer !  I 
guess  we're  going  to  have  a  cocktail  together,  aren't 
we?" 

She  nodded.  He  called  to  a  waiter  and  gave  an 
order.  Then  he  turned  and  looked  at  her  appre- 
ciatively. 

"  You're  looking  fine,"  he  declared. 

She  smiled  with  pleasure  at  the  undoubted  admira- 
tion in  his  tone.  In  the  new  and  fashionable  clothes 
which  she  had  purchased  during  the  last  few  days, 
the  artistically  coifFured  hair,  the  smart  hat  and 
carefullj'-thought-out  details  of  her  toilette,  she  was 
a  transformed  being,  in  no  way  different  from  the 
half  a  dozen  other  young  ladies  who  were  gathered 
with  their  escorts  at  the  further  end  of  the  room. 

"  I  am  glad  you  think  so,"  she  replied.  "  Seems 
to  me  I've  had  nothing  else  to  do  since  I  got  here  but 
buy  frocks  and  things." 

He  looked  at  her  in  a  puzzled  fashion. 

"  You  didn't  come  over  with  Jocelyn  Thew,  did 
you,  Nora?  " 


236     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Of  course  I  didn't,"  she  answered  indignantly. 
*'  If  you  want  to  know  the  truth,  it  looked  as  though 
there  was  going  to  be  trouble  at  Fourteenth  Street. 
Dad  made  a  move  out  West,  and  I  had  a  fancy  for 
making  a  little  trip  this  way." 

"  Kind  of  lonesome,  isn*t  it?  "  he  asked. 

"  In  a  way,"  she  sighed.  "  Still,  I  am  going 
on  presently  to  where  I  fancy  I  shall  meet  a  few 
friends." 

"  And  meanwhile,"  he  remarked,  "  you  are  still 
friendly  with  Jocelyn  Thew,  and  you  dined  last  night, 
didn't  you,  with  the  man  who  has  sworn  to  hunt  him 
down?  " 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders. 

"  You  know  what  I  think  of  Jocelyn  Thew,"  she 
said.  "  I'm  crazy  about  him,  and  always  shall  be, 
but  I've  never  seen  him  look  twice  at  a  woman  yet  in 
his  life,  and  never  expect  to.     Dick !  " 

"Yes,  Nora?" 

"  May  I  ask  you  a  question  —  straight?  " 

"  Of  course !  " 

*'  Don't  think  I  mean  to  say  a  word  against  Joce- 
lyn Thew.  He's  a  white  man  through  and  through, 
and  I  think  if  there  was  any  woman  in  the  world  he 
cared  for,  she  would  be  his  slave.  But  he's  a  despe- 
rate man.  Even  now  the  police  are  trying  to  draw 
their  net  around  him.  It  was  all  very  well  for  you, 
when  you  were  painting  New  York  red,  to  choose  your 
friends  where  it  pleased  you,  but  your  sister  —  she's 
different,  isn't  she?  —  what  they  call  over  on  our 
side  a  society  belle.  I  am  not  saying  that  there  is 
a  single  person  in  the  world  too  good  for  Jocelyn 
Thew  to  sit  down  with,  but  at  the  present  moment 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     237 

' —  well,  he's  hard  up  against  it.     Things  might  hap- 
pen to  him,  you  know,  Dick." 

For  a  moment  the  young  man  was  silent.  His 
eyes  seemed  to  look  through  the  walls  of  the  room, 
seemed  to  conjure  up  some  spectre  from  which  a 
moment  later  he  shrank. 

"  You  see,  Nora,"  he  explained,  dropping  his 
voice  a  little,  "  there  was  just  one  time  when  Jocelyn 
Thew  stood  by  me  like  a  brick.  I  was  hard  up 
against  it  and  he  saved  me." 

She  leaned  a  little  closer  to  him. 

"  I  have  often  wondered,"  she  murmured.  "  That 
was  the  affair  down  at  the  Murchison  country  house, 
wasn't  it.?" 

Richard  Beverley  assented  silently. 

"  Guess  we'll  drink  these  cocktails,"  he  said,  watch- 
ing the  waiter  approach.  "  Flying  takes  something 
out  of  you  all  the  time,  you  know,  Nora,  and  al- 
though when  I  am  up  my  nerves  are  like  a  rock,  I 
sometimes  feel  a  little  shaky  at  leave  time." 

"  Drink?  "  she  asked  tersely. 

"  I've  quit  that  more  or  less,"  he  assured  her. 
"  Still,  I  have  been  taking  some  these  last  few  days. 
Finding  Katharine  over  here  with  Jocelyn  Thew 
hanging  around  gave  me  kind  of  a  shock." 

"  You  weren't  best  pleased  to  see  them  together, 
I  should  think,  were  you.f*  " 

"  No,"  he  admitted,  a  little  sullenly. 

"  You're  angry  with  him,  aren't  you?  " 

"  Kind  of,"  he  confessed.  "  I  wouldn't  have  com- 
plained at  anything  he'd  asked  me  to  do,  but  it 
was  a  low-down  trick  to  get  Katharine  into  this 
trouble." 


238     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

His  eyes  shone  out  with  a  dull  anger.  She  watched 
him  curiously. 

"  Dick,  you're  not  the  boy  you  were,"  she  sighed. 
*'  Guess  you're  sorry  you  ever  came  to  that  supper 
party  at  the  Knickerbocker,  aren't  you?  " 

He  turned  and  looked  at  her.  He  was  only  twen- 
ty-two years  old,  but  there  were  things  in  his  face 
from  which  a  man  might  have  shrunk. 

*'  Yes,  I  am  sorry,"  he  confessed.  "  I  am  not 
blaming  anybody  but  I  shall  be  sorry  all  my  life." 

"  Jocelyn  Thew  treated  you  very  much  as  he  did 
me,"  she  went  on.  "  He  carried  you  off  your  feet. 
You  thought  him  the  most  wonderful  thing  that  ever 
lived.  It  was  the  same  with  me.  He  has  never  given 
as  much  of  himself  as  his  little  finger,  never  even 
looked  at  me  as  though  I  were  a  human  being,  but  I'd 
have  scrubbed  floors  for  him  a  month  after  we  first 
met.  It  was  just  the  same  with  you,  only  you  were  a 
man.  You'd  have  committed  murder  for  his  sake, 
a  week  after  that  party." 

"Murder!" 

He  gave  a  sudden  start,  a  start  that  amazed  her. 
His  hand  was  upon  her  shoulder.  His  eyes,  red  with 
fury,  were  blazing  into  hers. 

"  What's  that  you're  saying,  Nora.?  What's 
that?" 

She  was  speechless,  paralysed  by  that  little  stac- 
cato cry.  A  group  of  people  near  looked  around. 
She  laughed  shrilly  to  cover  the  intensity  of  the  mo- 
ment. 

"  No  need  to  get  excited !  "  she  exclaimed.  "  Pull 
yourself  together,"  she  went  on,  under  her  breath, 
*'  Waiter,  two  more  cocktails." 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     239 

He  recovered  himself  almost  at  once,  but  the 
strained  look  was  there  about  his  mouth. 

"  Nerves,  you  see,"  he  muttered.  "  I  shall  be  all 
right  again  when  I  get  back  to  France." 

She  laid  her  hand  gently  upon  his  arm. 

"  Dick,"  she  said,  "  you  are  often  upon  my  con- 
science. You  were  such  a  nice  boy,  back  in  those 
days.  Everything  that's  happened  to  you  seems  to 
have  happened  since  you  met  Jocelyn  Thew  that 
night.  He  has  got  some  sort  of  a  hold,  hasn't  he? 
What  is  it.?" 

The  young  man  moistened  his  dry  lips.  The 
waiter  brought  their  cocktails  and  he  drank  his 
greedily. 

"  I'll  tell  you,  Nora,"  he  promised.  "  Perhaps 
it'll  do  me  good  to  listen  how  the  story  sounds  as  I 
tell  it.  First  of  all,  let  us  have  the  thing  straight. 
Jocelyn  Thew  n^ver  helped  me  into  trouble.  I  was 
in  it,  right  up  to  the  neck,  when  I  met  him." 

"  You  kept  it  to  yourself,"  she  murmured  curi- 
ously. 

"  Because  I  was  a  fool,"  he  answered,  "  and  be- 
cause I  believed  I  could  pull  things  straight.  But 
anyway,  I  was  owing  Dan  Murchison  seventy  thou- 
sand I'd  lost  at  poker.  He  was  kind  of  shepherding 
me.  He  was  a  rough  sort,  Dan,  and  he  had  an  am- 
bitious wife,  and  I  had  a  name  he  liked.  Well,  he 
was  giving  a  week-end  party  down  at  that  place  of 
his  on  the  Hudson.  He  asked  me,  or  rather  he  or- 
dered me  down.  I  was  only  too  glad  to  go.  Then 
Mrs.  Murchison  chipped  in  —  wanted  my  sister, 
wanted  to  put  it  in  the  paper.  Katharine  kicked,  of 
course.     So   did   I.     Murchison    for   the   first   time 


240     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

showed  his  teeth  —  and  we  both  went.  Jocelyn  The\f 
•was  another  of  the  guests." 

"Tough,  wasn't  it.?" 

•*  Hell  I  On  the  way  down  —  I  don't  know  why, 
but  I  was  feeling  pretty  desperate  —  I  told  Jocelyn 
Thew  how  I  stood  with  Murchison.  He  listened  but 
he  didn't  say  much.  He  never  does.  It  was  a  rotten 
party  —  common  people,  one  or  two  professional 
gamblers,  a  lot  of  florid,  noisy,  overdressed,  giggling 
women.  After  the  women  were  supposed  to  have 
gone  to  bed,  we  sat  down  to  what  Dan  Murchison 
called  a  friendly  game  —  a  hundred  dollars  ante,  and 
a  thousand  rise.  Jocelyn  Thew  played,  three  other 
men,  and  Murchison.  After  about  an  hour  of  it, 
I'd  lost  over  twenty  thousand  dollars.  The  others 
had  it  between  them,  except  Jocelyn,  and  about  his 
play  there  was  a  very  curious  thing.  He  put  in  his 
ante  regularly  when  it  came  to  him,  but  he  never 
made  a  single  bet.     Murchison  turned  to  him  once. 

"  *  Say,  you  must  be  having  rotten  cards,  Mr. 
Thew,'  he  said. 

"  Jocel3^n  shook  his  head  very  deliberately.  I 
can  hear  his  reply  even  now.  Kind  of  quiet  it  was 
and  deliberate. 

"  '  I  don't  fancy  my  chances  of  winning  at  this 
game.' 

"  I  knew  what  he  meant  later.  I  didn't  tumble  to 
it  at  the  time.  We  played  till  two  o'clock.  God 
knows  how  much  I'd  lost!  Then  Murchison  called 
the  game  off.  He  locked  up  his  winnings  in  a  little 
safe  let  into  the  wall.  I  was  standing  by  him,  drink- 
ing, and  I  saw  the  combination.  Jocelyn  Thew  was 
sitting  quite  by  himself,  as  though  deep  in  thought.—' 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     241 

We  all  got  up  to  bed  somehow.  I  sat  for  some  hours 
at  the  open  window.  Pretty  soon  I  got  sober,  and 
I  began  to  realise  what  had  happened.  And  all  the 
time  I  thought  of  that  safe,  chock  full  of  money,  and 
the  combination  ready  set.  I  heard  Katharine  mov- 
ing about  in  her  room,  and  I  knew  that  she  was  wait- 
ing for  me  to  go  and  say  good  night.  I  wouldn't. 
I  put  on  a  short  jacket  instead  of  my  dress  coat, 
and  I  took  an  electric  torch  out  of  my  dressing  case 
and  I  went  down-stairs.  I'd  made  up  my  mind, 
Nora.     I  meant  to  rob  that  safe." 

She  was  carried  away  by  his  narrative.  He  had 
let  himself  go  now,  speaking  in  short,  quick  sentences. 
Yet  his  plain  words  seemed  to  paint  with  a  marvel- 
lous vividness  the  story  he  told.  It  seemed  to  her 
that  she  could  see  it  all,  could  realise  what  he  went 
through. 

"  Go  on,  Dick,"  she  whispered.     "  I  understand." 

"  Well,  I  got  down  into  the  room  all  right,  and  I 
got  the  safe  open,  and  there  was  the  money,  and, 
right  facing  me,  my  letters  and  bonds,  and  pretty 
well  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  cash.  And  then 
I  saw  the  lights  flare  up,  and  Murcliison  was  there  in 
his  shirt  and  trousers. 

"  '  So  that's  your  game,  is  it,  Richard  Beverley?  ' 
he  said. 

"  There  were  two  of  the  others  with  him  who'd  been 
playing  cards.  There  they  were,  three  strong  men, 
and  I  was  a  thief !  I  felt  limp.  I  hadn't  an  ounce 
of  resistance  in  me.  Murchison  stood  there,  showing 
his  ugly  teeth,  his  small  eyes  full  of  anger. 

"  '  So  you're  a  tliief,  are  you,  Richard  Be\  t-rley  .'* ' 
he  went  on. 


242     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  couldn't  speak.  At  that  moment  they  could 
have  done  just  what  they  liked  with  me.  And  then 
the  door  opened  very  quietly  and  closed  again.  Joc- 
elyn  Thew  came  in.  I  saw  Murchison's  face.  I 
tell  you,  Nora,  it  was  something  you  wouldn't  forget 
in  a  hurry. 

"  *  Is  anything  wrong.?  '  Jocelyn  Thew  asked 
calmly. 

"  One  of  the  guests  pointed  to  Murchison  and  me. 

" '  We  heard  footsteps,'  he  explained.  *  Dan 
called  me  and  I  followed  him  down.  Young  Bever- 
ley there  was  at  the  safe.' 

"  *  Probably  helping  himself,'  Jocelyn  said,  in  that 
same  smooth,  dangerous  tone,  '  to  his  own  money.' 

"  *  To  what?  '  Murchison  cried. 

"  '  To  his  own  money,'  Jocelyn  repeated,  coming  a 
little  nearer.  '  You  know,  Murchison,  well  enough 
what  I  mean  —  you  and  your  two  confederates  here. 
You're  nothing  more  nor  less  than  common  card 
sharpers.  I  took  a  pack  of  your  cards  up-stairs.  I 
needn't  say  anything  more.  I  think  you'd  better 
give  the  boy  back  his  money.  I  meant  to  wait  until 
to-morrow.  Fate  seems  to  have  anticipated  me. 
How  much  did  you  lose,  Richard?  ' 

"  Dan  Murchison  strode  up  to  him  and  I  saw  one 
of  the  other  men  go  for  his  hip  pocket. 

"'Will  you  take  that  back?'  Murchison  de- 
manded. 

"  '  Not  on  your  life  t '  Thew  replied. 

"  Murchison  went  for  him,  but  he  hadn't  a  dog's 
chance.  I  never  saw  such  a  blow  in  my  life.  Joce- 
lyn hit  him  on  tlie  point  of  the  chin  and  he  went  over 
like  a  log  —  cut  his  head  against  the  fender.     He  lay 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     243 

there  groaning,  and  I  —  I  swear  to  you,  Nora,  that 
I'm  not  a  coward,  but  I  couldn't  move  —  my  knees 
were  shaking.  The  two  of  them  went  for  Jocelyn, 
and  before  they  could  get  there  the  door  opened  and 
a  third  man  came  in  —  Jake  Hannaway,  the  most 
dangerous  of  the  lot.  Jocelyn  kept  the  other  two 
off  and  half  turned  his  head  towards  me,  where  I  was 
standing  like  a  gibbering,  nerveless  lunatic. 

"  '  I  think  you'd  better  take  a  hand,  Richard,'  he 
said." 

Nora  gasped  a  little  and  laid  her  hand  upon  his 
sleeve. 

"  Don't,  Dick,"  she  begged, — "  not  for  a  moment. 
I  can't  bear  it.     Just  a  moment." 

She  clutched  at  the  side  of  the  settee.  Richard 
Beverley  simply  sat  still,  looking  through  the  walls 
of  the  room.  There  was  not  the  slightest  change  in 
his  face.  He  just  waited  until  Nora  whispered  to 
him.     Then  he  went  on. 

"  I  won't  tell  you  about  the  fight,"  he  said.  "  I 
wasn't  much  use  at  first.  Jocelyn  was  there,  taking 
two  of  them  on,  and  butting  in  sometimes  against 
Hannaway,  who'd  tackled  me.  Then  I  began  to  get 
my  strength  back,  and  I  think  I  should  have  settled 
Hannaway,  but  the  door  opened  softly  and  I  saw 
Katharine's  face.  She  gave  a  httle  shriek,  and  Jake 
Hannaway  got  me  just  at  the  back  of  the  head.  I 
was  pretty  well  done  in,  but  Thew  suddenly  swung 
round  and  caught  Jake  Hannaway  very  nearly  where 
he  had  hit  Murchison.  Down  he  went  like  a  log.  I 
stood  there  swaying.  I  can  see  the  room  now  —  a 
table  overthrown,  glasses  and  flower  vases  all  over 
the  floor,  and  those  two  men  looking  as  though  they 


244     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

meant  to  murder  Thew.  Thej  rushed  at  him  to- 
gether. He  dodged  one,  but  his  strength  was  going. 
Then  for  the  first  time  he  sprang  clear  of  them,  got 
his  back  to  the  wall. —  I  won't  spin  it  out  —  he  shot 
one  of  them  through  the  shoulder.  The  other  one 
had  had  enough  and  tried  to  bolt.  Jocelyn  Thew 
was  just  too  quick  for  him.  He  flung  a  heavy  can- 
dlestick and  got  him  somewhere  on  the  neck.  There 
they  all  were  now  —  Murchison  sitting  up  and  dab- 
bing his  face,  half  conscious,  one  of  the  others  groan- 
ing and  streaming  with  blood,  the  other  lying  —  just 
as  though  he  were  dead.  Jocelyn  turned  and  spoke 
to  Katharine  —  I  can  hear  his  voice  now  —  I  swear, 
Nora,  there  wasn't  a  quaver  in  it  — 

"  '  I  am  afraid,  Miss  Beverley,'  he  said,  '  that  your 
brother  has  unwittingly  brought  you  into  a  den  of 
thieves.  I  had  my  suspicions,  and  my  car,  instead 
of  being  at  the  garage,  is  under  the  shrubs  there. 
One  moment.' 

"  He  stepped  out  into  the  hall,  brought  a  coat  and 
threw  it  around  her.     Then  he  turned  to  me. 

"  '  Empty  the  safe,  Richard,'  he  ordered. 

"  I  obeyed  him.  There  was  all  the  money  I  owed 
Murchison  there,  and  a  lot  of  other  stuff.  We 
stepped  out  of  the  French  windows.  Jocelyn  moved 
the  leg  of  one  of  those  men  on  one  side  and  held  the 
window  open  for  Katharine  to  pass  through.  I  tell 
you  he  set  the  switch  and  started  his  car  without  a 
tremor.  Katharine  was  nearly  fainting.  I  was  still 
fogged.  He  drove  us  into  New  York  with  scarcely 
a  word.  It  was  da3'light  when  we  reached  our  house 
in  Riverside  Drive.      He  drove  up  to  the  front  door. 

"  '  Perhaps  if  you  don't  mind,  Richard,'  he  said, 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     245 

*  you  could  lend  me  an  overcoat.  People  are  quite 
content  to  accept  us  as  night  joy-riders,  but  I  am 
scarcely  respectable  for  anything  in  the  shape  of  a 
close  examination.' 

"  Then  I  saw  that  he  was  all  over  blood  on  one  side. 
Katharine  took  him  away  and  sponged  him,  although 
he  laughed  at  it.  Then  he  had  me  in  the  study  and 
together  we  went  through  the  stuff  we'd  brought 
away.  He  made  me  keep  what  Murchison  had  done 
me  out  of,  and  the  rest  he  made  into  a  packet,  ad- 
dressed ready  for  posting  and  left  it  on  the  table. 

"  '  For  anything  else  that  may  happen,  Dick,'  he 
said,  *  we  must  take  our  chance.  I  have  had  my  sus- 
picions of  that  man  Murchison  for  a  long  time.  My 
own  opinion  is  that  we  shall  hear  nothing  more  about 
the  matter.'  " 

Nora  turned  and  looked  at  her  companion  with 
big,  startled  eyes. 

"  But  it  was  Jake  Hannaway,"  she  exclaimed, 
"  whom  they  accused  of  making  a  row  !  " 

He  stopped  her,  without  impatience  but  firmly. 

"  Jake  Hannaway  died  the  next  day,"  he  said. 
*'  I  must  have  hit  him  harder  than  I  thought  —  or 
Jocelyn  did !  He  had  no  relatives,  no  friends. 
Murchison  put  the  whole  trouble  down  to  him,  ad- 
mitted that  there  was  a  row  over  a  game  of  cards, 
and  a  free  fight.  The  other  two  swore  to  exactly  the 
same  story.  Our  names  —  mine  and  Jocelyn's,  were 
never  brought  in.  Murchison  never  came  near  me 
again.  I  have  never  seen  him  since.  That's  the 
whole  story." 

"  What  about  the  police  examination .''  "  she  asked 
curiously. 


246     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  I  know  no  more  than  you  do,"  he  replied.  "  I 
expect  Murchison  had  a  pull,  and  he  was  terrified  of 
Jocelyn  Tliew.  I  —  I  went  to  Jake  Hannaway's 
funeral,"  the  young  man  went  on,  with  a  slight  quiver 
in  his  tone.  "  I've  seen  his  face,  Nora,  up  in  the 
clouds.  I've  seen  it  when  I've  been  flying  ten  thou- 
sand feet  up.  Suddenly  a  little  piece  of  black 
sky  would  open  and  I'd  see  him  looking  down  at 
me!" 

There  was  a  brief  silence.  From  somewhere 
through  the  repeatedly  opened  swing  doors  came  the 
rise  and  fall  of  music,  played  from  a  distant  orches- 
tra. There  were  peals  of  laughter  from  a  cheerful 
party  at  the  other  end  of  the  little  room.  Nora 
patted  her  companion's  arm  gently,  and  his  eyes  and 
manner  became  more  natural. 

"  It's  done  me  good  to  tell  you  this,"  he  said,  half 
apologetically.  "  Katharine's  the  only  other  living 
creature  I've  dared  to  speak  to  about  it,  and  she  was 
there  —  she  saw !  Nora,  that  man  can  fight  like  a 
tiger ! " 

"  Hush  !  "  she  whispered.     "  Here  he  comes." 

The  swing  door  was  opened  and  Jocelyn  Thew, 
back  from  his  visit  to  the  box  office  at  the  Alhambra, 
entered  the  room.  He  raised  his  eye  brows  a  little 
as  he  saw  the  pair.     Then  he  advanced  towards  them. 

"  Do  you  know,  for  the  moment  I  had  quite  forgot- 
ten," he  confided,  as  he  sank  into  an  easy-chair  by 
their  side.  "  Of  course,  you  two  are  old  acquaint- 
ances." 

Nora  murmured  something.  Richard  Beverley 
rose  to  his  feet. 

"  Well,    I'd   better   be    getting    along,"   he    said. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      247 

"  It's  been  fine  to  see  you  again,  Nora,"  he  added, 
taking  her  hand  in  his.     "  See  you  later,  Thew." 

He  nodded  with  something  of  his  old  jauntiness 
and  swung  out  of  the  room.  They  both  watched 
him  in  silence. 

"  Not  quite  the  young  man  he  was,"  Jocelyn 
Thew  observed  thoughtfully.  "  Is  it  my  fancy,  I 
wonder,  or  does  he  drink  a  few  too  many  cocktails 
when  he  is  on  leave.'*  " 

"  Richard  Beverley's  all  right,"  Nora  answered. 
"  He  is  more  sensitive  than  he  seems,  and  there's  an 
ugly  little  corner  in  his  life  to  live  down.  He  is  do- 
ing the  best  he  can  to  atone.  Jocelyn,"  she  went 
on,  with  a  sudden  earnestness  in  her  tone,  "  you're 
going  to  leave  him  alone,  aren't  you.^  You  haven't 
any  scheme  in  your  head  for  making  use  of  him.''  " 

"  One  never  knows,"  was  the  cool  reply. 

She  looked  at  him  curiously. 

"  Jocelyn,"  she  said,  "  you're  a  hard  man.  You 
set  your  hand  to  a  task  and  you  don't  care  whom  in 
the  world  you  sacrifice  to  gain  your  end.  You  were 
a  fine  friend  to  Richard  Beverley  once,  but  surely  his 
sister  has  done  her  best  to  pay  his  debt?  Don't  do 
anything  that  will  make  him  ashamed  of  the  uniform 
he  wears." 

"  Very  pretty,"  he  murmured  approvingly,  "  but  I 
must  take  you  back  to  your  own  words  —  they  were 
true  enough.  When  I  have  a  task  to  perform,  when 
I  pledge  myself  to  a  certain  thing,  I  do  it,  and  I  must 
make  use  of  those  whom  fate  puts  in  my  way.  Rich- 
ard Beverley  and  his  sister  are  a  very  attractive 
couple,  but  if  circumstances  decree  that  they  are  the 
pawns  by  means  of  which  I  can  win  the  game,  then  7^ 


248     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

must  make  use  of  them. —  Dear  me,"  he  added,  "  my 
friend  Crawshaj !     I  fear  that  I  shall  be  de  trop." 

Nora  turned  to  greet  the  newcomer,  and  Thew 
sauntered  away  with  a  little  bow  of  farewell,  quite 
courteous,  even  gracious.  With  the  handle  of  the 
door  in  his  hand,  however,  he  paused  and  came  back. 

"  My  friend  Crawshay,"  he  said,  "  one  word  with 
you." 

Crawshay  turned  around. 

"With  pleasure!" 

"  Those  henchmen  of  yours  —  they  are  so  stupid, 
so  flagrantly  obvious.  I  am  a  good-tempered  per- 
son, but  they  irritated  me  this  afternoon  at  Euston." 

"  What  can  I  do.'^  "  Crawshay  asked.  "  However, 
you  must  not  let  them  get  on  your  nerves.  They  fol- 
low you  about  only  as  a  matter  of  form.  We  must 
ieep  up  the  old  legends,  you  know.  When,"  he 
added,  dropping  his  eyeglass  and  polishing  it  slowly, 
"  when  we  really  come  to  the  end  of  this  most  fas- 
cinating little  episode,  I  do  not  fancy  that  you  will 
have  cause  to  complain  of  our  methods." 

Jocelyn  Thew  smiled. 

"  Your  cryptic  words  have  struck  the  right  note," 
he  confessed.  *'  The  thrill  of  fear  is  in  my  veins. 
One  more  word,  though.  Miss  Nora  Sharey  is  an  old 
friend  of  mine.  There  is  a  tie  between  us  at  which 
you  could  not  guess.  Lavish  your  attentions  on 
her  in  the  hope  of  hearing  something  which  will  prove 
to  your  advantage,  but  do  not  trifle  with  her  affec- 
tions. If  you  do,  I  shall  constitute  myself  her  guar- 
dian and  there  will  be  trouble,  Crawshay  —  trouble." 

Once  more  he  turned  away,  with  a  smile  at  Nora 
and  a  little  nod  to  Crawshay.     He  passed  through 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     249 

the  door  and  disappeared,  erect,  lithe  and  graceful. 
Nora  looked  after  him,  and  her  ejes  were  filled  with 
admiration. 

"  I  think,"  she  sighed,  "  although  I  am  getting 
fonder  of  you  every  moment,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  she 
added,  as  she  saw  from  underneath  the  tissue  paper 
the  huge  bunch  of  white  roses  he  was  carrying,  "  that 
my  money  will  go  on  Jocelyn  Thew." 


CHAPTER  XXV 

About  three-thirty  on  the  following  afternoon,  in 
the  grounds  devoted  to  the  much  advertised  Red 
Cross  Sale,  that  eminent  comedian,  Mr.  Joseph 
Bobby,  mounted  to  the  temporary  rostrum  which 
had  been  erected  for  him  at  the  rear  of  one  of  the 
largest  tents,  amidst  a  little  storm  of  half  facetious 
applause.  He  repaid  the  general  expectation  by 
gazing  steadfastly  at  a  few  friends  amongst  the  audi- 
ence in  his  usual  inimitable  fashion,  and  by  indulging 
in  a  few  minutes  of  gagging  chaff  before  he  proceeded 
to  business.  A  little  way  off,  a  military  band  was 
playing  popular  selections.  The  broad  avenues  be- 
tween the  marquees  were  crowded  with  streams  of 
pretty  women  in  fancy  dresses,  and  mankind  with  a 
little  money  in  his  pocket  was  having  a  particularly 
uneasy  time.  There  was  nothing  to  distinguish  this 
from  any  other  of  the  Red  Cross  fetes  of  the  sea- 
son, except,  perhaps,  its  added  magnificence. 

"  Ladies  and  gentlemen,"  the  comedian  began,  "  I 
am  here  to  sell  by  auction  the  boxes  at  the  Alhambra 
Theatre  for  to-night,  when,  as  you  know,  there  will 
be  the  greatest  performance  ever  given  by  the  largest 
number  of  star  artistes  —  myself  included.  Owing 
to  a  slight  difference  of  opinion  with  the  management, 
wjio,  as  you  are  probably  aware,  ladies  and  gentle- 
nun,  are  the  thickest-headed  set  of  blighters  in  ex- 
istence — '* 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     251 

Loud  cries  of  "  No !  "  from  the  managing  director 
in  the  front  row. 

"  —  I  have  only  the  four  large  boxes  to  dispose  of. 
I  shall  start  with  Box  B.  Who  will  make  me  an  offer 
for  Box  B?  Who  will  offer  me,  say,  twenty-five 
guineas  to  start  the  bidding?  " 

Half-a-dozen  offers  were  immediately  made,  and 
Box  B  was  disposed  of  for  thirty-five  guineas. 
Boxes  C  and  D  fetched  a  little  more. 

"  We  now  come,"  the  auctioneer  concluded  impres- 
sively, "  to  the  piece  de  resistance,  if  I  may  so  call  it. 
Box  A  is  —  well,  you  all  know  Box  A,  ladies  and  gen- 
tlemen, so  I  will  simply  say  that  it  is  the  best  box  in 
the  house.  It  will  hold  all  the  friends  any  man 
breathing  has  any  use  for.  It  would  hold  the  largest 
family  who  ever  received  the  Queen's  bounty.  Box  A 
is  one  of  those  elastic  boxes,  ladies  and  gentlemen, 
which  have  no  limit.  You  can  fill  it  chock  full,  and  if 
the  right  person  knocks  at  the  door  there  will  still  be 
room  for  another.  Who  will  start  the  bidding  at 
forty  guineas?  " 

"  I  will  give  you  fifty,"  Jocelyn  Thew  said, 
promptly  raising  his  hand. 

The  auctioneer  leaned  forward,  expecting  to  see 
a  familiar  face.  He  saw  instead  a  very  distin- 
guished-looking and  remarkably  well-turned-out 
stranger,  smiling  pleasantly  at  him  from  the  front 
row  of  the  audience. 

"  You  are  a  man,  sir,"  the  former  declared  warmly. 
"  You  are  giving  me  a  good  push  off.  Fifty 
guineas  is  bidden,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  for  Box 
A." 

"  I'll  go  to  fifty-five,"  a  well-known  racing  man 


252     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

called  out  from  the  rear.     "  Not  a  penny  more,  Joe, 
so  don't  get  faking  the  bidding." 

The  comedian  assumed  an  air  of  grieved  surprise. 

"  That  from  you  I  did  not  expect,  Mr.  Mason," 
he  said.  "  However,  that  you  may  have  no  cause 
for  complaint,  I  am  prepared  to  knock  Box  A 
down  to  you  for  fifty-five  guineas,  barring  any  ad- 
vance." 

"  Sixty,"  Jocelyn  Thew  bid. 

The  auctioneer  noted  the  advance  with  thanks. 
Then  he  looked  towards  the  betting  man,  who  shook 
his  head.  The  auctioneer,  who  was  rather  wanting 
to  get  away,  raised  his  hammer  with  an  air  of  finality. 

"  Going  at  sixty  guineas,  then." 

"  Sixty-five,"  a  new  bidder  intervened. 

The  comedian,  with  his  hammer  already  poised  in 
the  air,  paused  in  some  surprise.  A  clean-shaven 
man  in  dark  grey  clothes  and  a  bowler  hat,  a  man 
who  had  somehow  the  air  of  being  a  little  out  of  his 
element  in  this  galaxy  of  pleasure  seekers,  caught  his 
eye. 

"  Sixty-five  you  said,  sir.  Very  good.  Going  at 
sixty-five." 

"  Seventy,"  Jocelyn  Thew  bid. 

*'  Seventy -five." 

"  Eighty." 

"  Eighty-five." 

"  Ninety." 

"  Ninety-five." 

"  One  hundred  guineas,"  Jocelyn  Thew  bid,  turn- 
ing with  a  good-natured  smile  to  glance  at  his  oppo- 
nent. 

The  auctioneer  drew  himself  up.     The  contest  had 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     253 

begun  to  interest  him.  Every  one  in  the  room  was 
standing  on  tiptoe  to  watch. 

"  One  hundred  guineas  is  bid  by  my  friend  in  the 
front,"  he  declared.  "  A  very  princely  offer.  Shall 
I  knock  it  down  at  that?  " 

One  hundred  and  twenty  was  promptly  bidden  by 
the  newcomer.  Jocelyn  Thew  smiled  up  at  the  auc- 
tioneer. 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  I've  invited  my  party  so  I  sup- 
pose I'll  have  to  stick  to  it.  I'll  make  it  a  hundred 
and  fifty." 

"  A  hundred  and  sixty." 

"  A  hundred  and  seventy-five." 

"  Two  hundred." 

"  Two  hundred  and  fifty." 

The  comedian's  flow  of  badinage  had  ceased.  An 
intense  silence  reigned  in  the  marquee.  He,  in  com- 
mon with  many  of  the  others,  was  beginning  to  rec- 
ognise a  note  of  something  unusual  in  this  duel. 

"  Two  hundred  and  fifty  guineas  is  a  very  hand- 
some sum  for  the  box,"  he  said,  leaning  forward. 
"  Perhaps   some   arrangement   could  be  made,   Mr. 


"  My  name  is  Jocelyn  Thew.  The  two  hundred 
and  fifty  guineas  bid  is  mine.  I  have  the  notes  here 
ready." 

The  auctioneer  turned  towards  the  other  bidder 
appealingly. 

"  I  am  acting  under  instructions,"  the  latter  said, 
"  and  I  am  not  at  liberty  to  make  any  arrangements 
to  share  the  box." 

"  In  that  case,  the  bid  against  you  at  the  present 
moment  is  two  hundred  and  fifty  guineas,"  the  auc- 


254     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

tioneer  told  him.  "  Of  course,  the  more  money  we 
get,  the  better  —  the  Red  Cross  can  do  with  it  — 
but  it  seems  to  me  that  the  present  bid  is  adequate. 
If  no  arrangement  is  possible,  however,  I  must  con- 
tinue the  auction." 

"  Two  hundred  and  sevent3^-five  guineas." 

"  Three  hundred,"  Joceljn  Thew  replied  coolly. 
"  One  moment,  Mr.  Bobby." 

He  leaned  forward  and  whispered  in  the  comedian's 
ear.  The  latter  nodded  and  turned  to  the  rival 
bidder. 

"  Do  you  understand,  sir,"  he  enquired,  "  that 
this  is  strictly  a  cash  affair?  I  must  have  notes  for 
the  amount  at  the  conclusion  of  the  sale." 

"  You  will  have  to  wait  until  I  get  them,  then," 
was  the  anxious  reply.  "  I  only  brought  two  hun- 
dred and  fifty  with  me." 

The  comedian  shook  his  head. 

*'  There  can  be  no  question  of  waiting,"  he  de- 
cided. "  If  two  hundred  and  fifty  guineas  is  all 
that  you  have  with  you,  then  the  box  must  go  to  the 
other  gentleman  for  three  hundred  guineas." 

"  If  we'd  only  thought  of  mentioning  the  matter 
of  cash  before,"  Jocelyn  Thew  said  pleasantly,  "  it 
seems  to  me  that  I  might  have  saved  a  little  money. 
However,  I  don't  grudge  it  to  the  cause." 

There  was  a  little  murmur  of  applause,  and  be- 
fore any  further  word  could  be  said,  the  auctioneer's 
hammer  dropped.  Jocelyn  Thew  stepped  up  to  his 
side  and  counted  out  three  hundred  guineas  in  notes, 
receiving  in  return  the  admission  ticket  for  the  box. 
The  comedian  shook  hands  with  him. 

"  A  very  generous  contribution,  sir,"  he  declared. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     255 

**  I  shall  do  myself  the  pleasure  of  remembering  it 
to-night." 

Jocelyn  Thew  made  some  suitable  reply  and 
strolled  leisurely  off,  his  eyes  searching  everywhere 
for  his  unsuccessful  rival.  He  found  him  at  last  in 
the  main  avenue,  on  his  way  to  the  principal  exit, 
and  touched  him  on  the  shoulder. 

"  One  moment,  sir,"  he  begged. 

The  young  man  paused.  When  he  saw  who  his 
interlocutor  was,  however,  he  attempted  to  hurry  on. 

"  You  will  excuse  me,"  he  began,  "  I  am  pressed 
for  time." 

"  I  will  walk  with  you  as  far  as  the  gate,"  Jocelyn 
Thew  said.  "  I  am  very  curious  concerning  your 
bidding  for  Box  A.  Can't  you  let  me  know  for 
■whom  you  were  trying  to  buy  it.-*  It  is  possible  that 
I  might  feel  inclined  to  resell." 

"  My  instructions  were  to  buy  the  box  by  auction, 
and  to  go  up  to  five  hundred  pounds  for  it,"  was  the 
somewhat  hesitating  reply.  "  I  am  unfortunately 
not  in  a  position  to  divulge  the  name  of  my  client." 

"  You  can  at  least  tell  me  your  own  name,  or  the 
name  of  the  firm  whom  yoa  rep  resent .''  " 

The  young  man  quickened  his  pace. 

"  I  can  tell  you  nothing,"  he  said  firmly.  "  Good 
afternoon !  " 

Jocelyn  Thew  strolled  thoughtfully  back,  made  a 
few  purchases  wherever  he  was  accosted,  but  had  al- 
ways the  air  of  a  man  who  is  seeking  to  solve  some 
problem.  Issuing  from  one  of  the  tents,  he  came 
suddenly  face  to  face  with  Katharine  and  her  brother. 

"  You  are  too  late  for  the  auction,"  the  latter 
declared,  as  they  shook  hands,  "  and  you  wouldn't 


256     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

have  got  your  box,  anyhow.     Do  you  know  what  it 
fetched?  " 

"  Three  hundred  guineas,"  Jocelyn  Thew  rephed 
with  a  smile.     "  I  bought  it  at  that." 

They  both  stared  at  him. 

"  For  three  hundred  guineas  ?  "  Richard  repeated. 

"  I  was  rather  lucky  to  get  it  at  that.  There  was 
an  anon3'mous  bidder  who  fortunately  hadn't  got  the 
cash  with  him,  or  I  gathered  that  he  was  willing  to 
go  to  a  great  deal  more." 

They  stood  for  a  moment  in  silence.  Katharine 
laughed  a  little  nervously. 

"  What  does  it  mean  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  A  little  obstinacy  on  the  part  of  a  millionaire, 
I  suppose,"  Jocelyn  Thew  replied  carelessly.  "  By- 
the-by,  if  it  suits  you  we  will  meet  at  the  theatre  this 
evening,  instead  of  dining.  I  know  that  you  will 
like  to  have  a  little  time  alone  with  your  brother,  as 
he  is  off  to-night.  Miss  Beverley,  and  I  have  a  busi- 
ness friend  coming  in  to  see  me  about  dinner  time. 
I  shall  be  in  the  box,  awaiting  you,  say  at  half-past 
eight.  You'll  be  close  to  Charing  Cross,  won't  you, 
Richard,  and  you  won't  have  to  leave  until  ten 
o'clock?" 

"  That's  all  right,"  the  young  man  agreed.  "  It's 
^  jolly  good  send-ofF  for  me." 

Jocelyn  Thew  made  his  farewells  and  strolled  down 
one  of  the  narrow  avenues  which  led  to  the  exit. 
About  half-way  down,  he  came  suddenly  face  to  face 
with  Nora  and  Crawshay.  They  all  three  stood  to- 
gether, talking,  for  a  few  moments.  Suddenly  Craw- 
shay, who  appeared  to  see  some  one  in  the  crowd, 
turned  away. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     257 

"  Will  you  excuse  me  for  one  moment,  Miss  Sha- 
rey?  "  he  said.  "  Perhaps  Mr.  Thew  will  take  care 
of  you." 

"  Perhaps,"  Jocelyn  Thew  observed,  as  he  watched 
Crawshay  disappear,  "  you  need  some  taking  care  of, 
eh,  Nora?" 

She  shrugged  her  shoulders.  Her  eyes  sought  his. 
She  looked  at  him  defiantly. 

"  Well,"  she  exclaimed,  "  London's  a  dull  place  all 
alone.     So's  life." 

"  I  am  not  interfering  in  your  choice  of  residence 
or  companionship,"  he  replied,  "  although  it  seems 
strange  that  you,  whom  I  think  I  may  call  my  friend, 
should  choose  to  amuse  yourself  with  the  one  person 
in  life  who  is  my  open  enemy,  the  one  man  who  has 
sworn  to  bring  about  my  downfall." 

"  There  isn't  any  man  in  the  world  will  ever  do 
that,"  she  declared,  "  and  you  know  it.  You  are 
afraid  of  no  one.     You've  no  cause  to  be." 

"  That  may  be  true,"  he  agreed,  "  but  since  wt 
have  the  opportunity  of  these  few  moments'  conver- 
sation, Nora,  there  is  one  thing  I  wish  to  say  to  you. 
I  place  no  embargo  upon  your  friendship  with  Mr. 
Crawshay.  I  do  not  presume  to  dictate  to  you  even 
as  to  the  subjects  of  your  conversation  with  him. 
Tell  him  what  pleases  you.  Talk  to  him  about  me, 
if  you  will  —  you  will  find  him  always  interested. 
But  there  is  one  thing.  If  your  lips  should  ever 
breathe  a  word  of  that  other  name  of  mine,  or  of 
those  other  things  connected  with  my  personal  his- 
tory of  which  you  know,  I  warn  you,  Nora,  that  it 
will  be  a  very  bad  day  for  you.  It  will  be  the  one 
unforgivable  thing,  and  I  never  forgive." 


258     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Nora  shivered,  although  the  afternoon  sun  was 
streaming  down  upon  them.  Her  cheeks  were  a  little 
paler. 

"  No,"  she  murmured,  "  I  know  that.  You  would 
never  forgive.  You  are  as  hard  as  the  rocks.  All 
the  time  since  I  have  known  you,  I  have  tried  to 
soften  you  ever  so  little,  just  because  I  was  fool 
enough  to  like  you,  fool  enough  to  believe  that  it  was 
just  suffering  which  had  made  you  what  V'ou  are. 
That  belongs  to  the  past.  When  I  think  of  you 
now,  my  heart  is  like  a  stone,  because  I  know  that 
there  is  no  love  in  you,  nor  any  of  those  other  things 
for  which  a  woman  craves.  I  should  be  very  sorry 
indeed,  Jocelyn  Thew,  for  any  woman  who  ever  cared 
for  you,  and  for  her  own  sake  I  pray  very  much 
that  there  is  no  one  at  the  present  moment  who 
does." 

A  light  breeze  was  blowing  over  the  place.  They 
were  standing  a  little  apart,  in  the  shadow  of  a  tree, 
and  the  hum  of  conversation  and  laughter,  the  noisy 
appeals  of  the  vendors  of  flowers  and  other  trifles, 
the  strident  voices  from  a  distant  stage,  the  far-off 
strains  of  swaying  music,  seemed  blended  together  in 
an  insistent  and  not  inharmonious  chorus.  Jocelj'n 
Thew  stood  as  though  listening  to  them  for  a  mo- 
ment. His  eyes  were  following  a  tall  figure  in  white, 
walking,  a  little  listlessly  by  her  brother's  side. 
When  he  spoke,  his  tone  was  unusually  soft. 

"  I  always  told  you  what  you  seem  to  have  dis- 
covered, Nora,"  he  said.  "  I  alwa^'s  told  you  that 
behind  the  driving  force  of  my  life  was  much  hate 
but  no  love,  nor  any  capacity  for  love.  That  may 
not  have  been   my   fault.     If   we   were   in   another 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     259 

place,"  he  went  on,  "  I  somehow  feel  that  I  might 
tell  you  what  I  have  never  told  anybody  else  —  the 
real  story  that  lay  behind  the  things  you  know  of, 
things  the  memory  of  which  was  brought  back  to 
me  only  last  night.  Even  now  that  may  come,  but 
for  the  present,  Nora,  remember.  What  you  know 
of  me  that  lies  behind  that  curtain,  must  never  pass 
your  lips." 

"  I  promise,"  she  murmured.  "  Here  comes  Mr. 
Crawshay." 

Jocelyn  Thew  raised  liis  hat,  smiled  at  Nora  and 
strolled  away.  He  smiled  also  a  little  to  himself, 
but  not  so  pleasantly.  The  man  from  whom  Craw- 
shay had  just  parted,  and  with  whom  he  had  been 
in  close  conversation,  was  the  man  who  had  been 
bidding  against  him  for  Box  A  at  the  Alhambra  that 
night. 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

From  six  o'clock  until  half  an  hour  before  the 
time  fixed  for  the  commencement  of  the  performance, 
a  steady  crowd  of  people  elbowed  and  pushed  their 
way  that  night  into  the  cheaper  parts  of  the  Alham- 
bra  Music-hall.  Soon  afterwards,  the  earliest  ar- 
rivals presented  themselves  at  the  front  of  the  house. 
Brightman  and  Crawshay  arrived  together,  and 
made  their  way  at  once  to  the  manager's  office,  the 
former  noticing,  with  a  little  glint  of  recognition 
which  amounted  to  scarcely  more  than  a  droop  of 
the  eyes,  two  or  three  sturdy  looking  men  who  had 
the  appearance  of  being  a  little  unused  to  their 
evening  clothes,  and  who  were  loitering  about  in 
the  vestibule. 

The  manager  greeted  his  two  visitors  without  en- 
thusiasm. He  was  a  small,  worried-looking  man, 
with  pale  face,  hooked  nose  and  shiny  black  hair. 
He  had  recently  changed  his  name  from  Jonas  to 
Joyce,  without  materially  affecting  the  impression 
which  he  made  upon  the  stranger. 

"  This  is  Mr.  Crawshay,"  Brightman  began, 
"  who  has  charge  from  the  Government  point  of 
view,  of  the  little  matter  you  and  I  know  about." 

The  manager  shook  hands  limply. 

"  Glad  to  meet  you,  Mr.  Crawshay,"  he  said, 
*'  but  a  little  disturbed  at  the  cause.  I  must  say 
that  I  hope  you  will  find  your  impressions  ill-founded. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     261 

I  don't  like   things   of  this   sort  happening  in  my 
house." 

"  Might   happen   anywhere,"   Mr.   Brightman   de- 
clared, with  an  attempt  at  cheerfulness.     "  By-the- 
by,  Mr.  Joyce,  I  hope  you  got  my  note?  " 
The  manager  nodded. 

"  Yes,"  he  assented,  "  I've  made  all  the  arrange- 
ments you  wished,  and  the  box  has  not  been  entered 
except  by  the  cleaner." 

"  Mr.  Thew  himself,  then,  has  made  no  attempt  to 
visit  it.''"  Grawshay  enquired. 

"  Not  to  my  knowledge,"  was  the  brusque  reply. 
The  two  men  took  their  leave,  strolled  along  the 
vestibule,  glanced  at  the  closed  door  of  the  box  and 
made  their  way  down  into  the   stalls. 

"  Our  friend  must  be  exceedingly  confident," 
Brightman  remarked  musingly. 

"  Or  else  we  are  on  the  wrong  tack,"  Crawshay 
put  in. 

"  As  to  that  we  shall  see !  I  don't  like  to  seem 
over-sanguine,"  Brightman  went  on,  "  but  my  im- 
pression is  that  he  is  rather  up  against  it." 

"  All  I  can  say  is  that  he  is  taking  it  very  coolly, 
then !  " 

"  To  all  appearance,  yes.  But  whereas  it  is  quite 
true  that  he  has  made  no  attempt  to  get  at  the  box, 
Joyce  didn't  tell  us  —  as  a  matter  of  fact,  I  don't 
suppose  he  knows  —  that  three  times  Jocelyn  Thew 
has  visited  the  theatre  under  some  pretext  or  other, 
and  spotted  my  men  about.  From  half-an-hour 
after  his  bid  at  the  fete,  that  box  has  been  as  inac- 
cessible to  him  as  though  it  had  been  walled  up." 
They  took  their  seats  in  the  stalls,  wliich  were  now 


262     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

rapidly  filling.  About  five  minutes  later,  Joceljn 
Thew  arrived  alone.  The  box  opener  brought  him 
from  the  vestibule,  and  an  amateur  programme  seller 
accepted  his  sovereign  —  both,  in  view  of  the  many 
rumours  floating  about  the  place,  regarding  him 
with  much  curiosity.  Without  any  appearance  of 
hurry  he  entered  the  much-discussed  box,  divested 
himself  of  his  coat  and  hat,  and  stood  for  a  moment 
in  full  view,  looking  around  the  house.  His  eyes 
rested  for  a  moment  upon  the  figures  of  the  two  men 
below,  and  a  very  grim  smile  parted  his  lips.  He 
stepped  a  little  into  the  background  and  remained 
for  some  time  out  of  sight.  Brightman's  interest 
became  intense. 

"  From  this  moment  he  is  our  man,"  he  whispered. 
"  All  the  same,  I  should  have  liked  to  have  seen 
where  he  has  hidden  the  papers.  I  went  round  the 
box  myself  without  finding  a  thing." 

Jocelyn  Thew  had  hung  up  his  coat  and  hat  upon 
one  of  the  pegs,  and  for  a  few  seconds  remained  as 
though  listening.  Then  he  turned  the  key  of  the 
door,  and,  taking  the  heavy  curtain  up  in  his  hand, 
searched  it  for  a  few  moments  until  he  arrived  at  a 
certain  spot  in  one  of  the  bottom  folds.  With  a 
penknife  which  he  drew  from  his  pocket,  he  cut 
through  some  improvised  stitches,  thrust  his  hand 
into  the  opening  and  drew  out  a  small  packet,  which 
he  buttoned  up  in  his  pocket.  In  less  than  a  minute 
he  had  let  the  curtain  fall  again  and  unlocked  the 
door.  Almost  immediately  afterwards  there  was  a 
knock. 

"  Come  in,"  he  invited. 

Katharine  and  her  brother  entered,  the  former  in 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     263 

a  gown  of  black  net  designed  by  the  greatest  of 
French  modistes,  and  Richard  in  active  service  uni- 
form. 

"  We  are  abominably  early,  of  course,"  Katha- 
rine declared,  as  they  shook  hands,  "  but  I  love  to 
see  the  people  arrive,  and  as  it  is  Dick's  last  evening 
he  couldn't  bear  the  thought  of  losing  a  minute  of 
it." 

Jocelyn  Thew  busied  himself  in  establishing  his 
guests  comfortably.  He  himself  remained  standing 
behind  Katharine's  chair,  a  little  in  the  background. 

"  We  are  going  to  have  a  great  performance  to-  j 
night,"  he  observed,     "  Exactly  what  time  does  your 
train  go,  Richard?  " 

*'  Ten  o'clock  from  Charing  Cross." 

Jocelyn  Thew  thrust  his  hand  into  his  pocket,  and 
Richard,  rising  to  his  feet,  stepped  back  into  the 
shadows  of  the  box.  Something  passed  between 
them.  Katharine  turned  her  head  and  clutched  ner- 
vously at  the  programme  which  lay  before  her.  She 
was  looking  towards  them,  and  her  face  was  as  pale 
as  death.  Her  host  stepped  forward  at  once  and 
smiled  pleasantly  down  at  her. 

"  You  will  not  forget,"  he  whispered,  "  that  we  are 
likely  be  the  centre  of  observation  to-night.  I  see 
that  our  friends  Brightman  and  Crawshay  are  al- 
ready amongst  the  audience." 

Katharine  picked  up  her  program  and  affected  to 
examine  it.  "  If  only  to-night  were  over ! "  she 
murmured. 

"  It  is  strange  that  you  should  feel  like  that,"  he 
observed,  drawing  his  chair  up  to  the  front  of  the 
box    and    leaning    towards    her    in    conversational 


264     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

fashion.  "  Now  to  me  half  the  evils  of  life  lie  in  an- 
ticipation. When  the  time  of  danger  actually  ar- 
rives, those  evils  seem  to  take  to  themselves  wings 
and  fly  away.  Take  the  case  of  a  great  actress  on 
her  first  night,  an  emotional  and  temperamental 
woman,  besieged  by  fears  until  the  curtain  rises,  and 
then  carried  away  by  her  genius  even  unto  the 
heights.  Our  curtain  has  risen.  Miss  Beverley.  All 
we  can  do  is  to  pray  that  the  gods  may  look  our 
way." 

She  studied  him  thoughtfully  for  a  moment.  It 
was  obvious  that  he  was  not  exaggerating.  His 
granite-like  face  had  never  seemed  more  immovable. 
His  tone  was  perfectly  steady,  his  manner  the  man- 
ner ef  one  looking  forward  to  a  pleasant  evening. 
Yet  he  knew  quite  well  what  she,  too,  guessed  —  that 
his  enemies  were  closing  in  around  him,  that  the  box 
itself  was  surrounded,  that  notwithstanding  all  his 
ingenuity  and  all  his  resource,  a  crisis  had  come 
which  seemed  insuperable.  She  was  suddenly  over- 
whelmed with  a  sense  of  the  pity  of  it.  All  the  ad- 
miration she  had  ever  felt  for  his  strange  insouciance, 
his  almost  bravado-like  coolness,  his  mastery  over 
events,  seemed  suddenly  to  resolve  itself  into  more 
definite  and  more  clearly-comprehended  emotion. 
It  was  the  great  pity  of  it  all  which  suddenly  ap- 
pealed to  her.      She  leaned  a  little  forward. 

"  You  have  called  this  our  last  evening,"  she 
whispered.  "  Tell  me  one  thing,  won't  you.'*  Tell 
me  why  it  must  be?  " 

The  softness  in  her  eyes  was  unmistakable,  and  bis 
own  face  for  a  moment  relaxed  wonderfully.  Again 
there  was  that  gleam  almost   of  tenderness   in  his 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     265 

deep-blue    eyes.     Nevertheless,    he    shook    his    head. 

"  Whether  I  succeed  or  whether  I  fail,"  he  said 
simply,  "  to-night  ends  our  associations.  Don't 
you  understand,"  he  went  on,  "  that  if  I  pass  from 
the  shadow  of  this  danger,  there  is  another  more 
imminent,  more  certain?" 

He  hesitated  for  a  single  moment,  and  his  voice, 
which  had  grown  softer,  became  suddenly  almost 
musical.  Katharine,  who  was  listening  intently,  re- 
alised like  a  flash  that  for  the  first  moment  the  mask 
had  fallen  away. 

"  I  have  lived  for  many  years  with  that  other  dan- 
ger," he  went  on.  "  It  has  lain  like  a  shadow  al- 
ways in  front  of  my  path.  Perhaps  that  is  why  I 
have  become  what  I  am,  why  I  have  never  dared  to 
hope  for  the  other  things  which  are  dear  to  e\eTy 
one." 

Her  hand  suddenly  gripped  his.  They  sat  there 
for  a  moment  in  a  strange,  disturbing  silence.  Then 
the  orchestra  ceased,  the  curtain  was  rung  up,  the 
performance,  which  was  in  the  nature  of  a  music- 
hall  show,  with  frequent  turns  and  changes,  com- 
menced. Popular  favourites  from  every  department 
of  the  theatrical  world,  each  in  turn  claimed  atten- 
tion and  applause.  Katharine  watched  it  all  with 
an  interest  always  strained,  a  gaiety  somewhat  hys- 
terical ;  Jocelyn  Thew  with  the  measured  pleasure 
of  a  critic ;  Richard  with  uproarious,  if  sometimes  a 
little  unreal  merriment.  The  time  slipped  by  appar- 
ently unnoticed.  Suddenly  Richard  glanced  at  his 
wrist-watch  and  stood  up. 

"  I  must  go,"  he  declared.  "  I  had  no  idea  that 
it  was  so  late." 


266     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Katharine's  fingers  clutched  the  program  which 
lay  crumpled  up  in  her  hand.  She  looked  at 
her  brother  with  almost  frightened  eyes.  Their 
host,  too,  had  risen  to  his  feet,  and  down-stairs  in 
the  stalls  two  men  had  slipped  out  of  their  places. 
Jocelyn  Thow  threw  back  his  head  with  a  little  fam- 
iliar, gesture.     The  light  of  battle  was  in  his  eyes. 

"  Richard  is  right,"  he  observed.  "  It  is  twenty 
minutes  to  ten." 

"  My  servant  will  meet  me  down  there  with  my 
kit  and  get  me  a  seat,"  the  young  man  said.  "  I 
shall  have  plenty  of  time,  but  I  think  I  had  better 
wiake  a  start." 

Katharine  came  into  the  back  of  the  box  and 
threw  her  arms  around  her  brother's  neck.  He 
stooped  and  kissed  her  on  the  lips  and  forehead. 

"  Cheer  up,  Katharine,"  he  begged.  "  There  is 
nothing  to  worry  about." 

"  Nothing  whatever,"  Joceh'n  Thew  echoed. 
"  The  most  serious  contingency  that  I  can  see  at 
present  is  that  you  may  have  to  find  your  way  home 
alone." 

"  The  number  of  the  car  is  twenty,"  Beverley 
said,  handing  a  ticket  to  his  sister.  "  I'll  send  you 
a  wire  from  Folkestone." 

Jocelyn  Thew  suddenly  held  out  his  hand.  His 
eyes  were  still  flashing  with  the  light  of  anticipated 
battle,  but  there  was  something  else  in  his  face  rem- 
iniscent of  that  momentary  softening. 

"  Mine,  I  fear,"  he  murmured,  "  may  be  but 
a  wireless  message,  but  I  hope  that  you  will  get 
it." 

They  departed,  and  Katharine,  drawing  her  chair 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      267 

into  the  back  of  the  box,  faced  many  anxious  mo- 
ments of  solitude.  The  two  men  made  their  way  in 
leisurely  fashion  along  the  vestibule  and  turned  up- 
stairs towards  the  refreshment  room.  Half-way  up, 
however,  Jocelyn  Thew  laid  his  hand  upon  his  com- 
panion's arm. 

"  Dick,"  he  said,  "  I  think  if  I  were  you  I  wouldn't 
have  another.  You've  only  just  time  to  catch  your 
train,  as  it  is." 

"  Must  have  a  farewell  glass,  old  fellow,"  the 
young  man  protested. 

His  companion  was  firm,  however,  and  Beverley 
turned  reluctantly  away.  They  walked  arm  in  arm 
down  the  broad  entrance  lounge  towards  the  glass, 
doors.  It  seemed  to  have  become  suddenly  evident 
that  Jocelyn  Thew's  words  were  not  without  point.. 
Richard  stumbled  once  and  walked  with  marked  un- 
steadiness. Just  before  they  reached  the  doors, 
Brightman,  with  a  tall,  stalwart-looking  friend, 
slipped  past  them  on  the  right.  Another  m>an  fell 
almost  into  line  upon  the  left,  and  jostled  the  young- 
officer  as  he  did  so.  The  latter  glanced  at  both  of 
them  a  little  truculently. 

"  Say,  don't  push  me !  "  he  exclaimed  threaten- 
ingly.     "  You  keep  clear." 

Neither  of  the  men  took  any  notice.  The  nearer 
one,  in  fact,  closed  in  and  almost  prevented  Bever- 
ley's   further   progress.     Brightman    leaned    across. 

"  I  am  sorry.  Captain  Beverley,"  he  said,  "  but  we 
wfsTi  to  ask  you  a  question.  Will  you  step  into  the 
box  office  with  us .''  " 

"  I'm  damned  if  I  will ! "  the  young  man  answered. 
*'  I  have  a  matter  of  ten  minutes  to  catch  my  traia 


268     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

at  Charing  Cross,  and  I*m  not  going  to  break  my 
leave  for  you  blighters." 

Crawshay,  who  had  been  lingering  in  the  back- 
ground, drew  a  little  nearer. 

"  Forgive  my  intervention,  Captain  Beverley,"  he 
said,  "  but  the  matter  will  be  explained  to  the  mili- 
tary authorities  if  by  chance  you  should  miss  your 
train.  I  am  afraid  that  we  must  insist  upon  your 
acceding  to  our  request." 

Then  followed  a  few  seconds'  most  wonderful  pan- 
demonium. Jocelyn  Thew's  efforts  seemed  of  the 
slightest,  yet  Mr.  Brightman  lay  on  his  back  upon 
the  floor,  and  his  stalwart  companion,  although  he 
himself  was  not  ignorant  of  Oriental  arts,  lay  on  his 
side  for  a  moment,  helpless.  Richard,  if  not  so  sub- 
tle, was  equally  successful.  His  great  fist  shot  out, 
and  the  man  whose  hand  would  have  gripped  his 
arm  went  staggering  back,  caught  his  foot  in  the 
edge  of  the  carpet,  and  fell  over  upon  the  tesselated 
pavement.  There  were  two  swing  doors,  and  Rich- 
ard, with  a  spring,  went  for  the  right-hand  one. 
The  commissionaire  guarding  the  other  rushed  to 
help  his  companion  bar  the  exit.  The  two  plain- 
clothes policemen,  whose  recovery  was  instantan- 
eous, scrambled  to  their  feet  and  dashed  after  him, 
followed  by  Crawshay.  Jocelyn  Thew,  scarcely  ac- 
celerating his  walk,  strolled  through  the  left-hand 
door,  crossed  the  pavement  of  the  Strand  and  van- 
ished. 

Fortune  was  both  kind  and  unkind  to  Richard  in 
those  next  few  breathless  minutes.  An  old  football 
player,  his  bent  head  and  iron  shoulder  were  suffi- 
cient for  the  commissionaires,  and,  plunging  dir'»ctly 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     269 

across  the  pavement  and  the  street,  he  leapt  into  a 
taxi  which  was  crawling  along  in  the  direction  of 
Charing  Cross. 

"  Give  you  a  sovereign  to  get  to  Charing  Cross 
in  three  minutes,"  he  cried  out,  and  the  man,  accept- 
ing the  spirit  of  the  thing,  thrust  in  his  clutch, 
eagerly.  For  a  moment  it  seemed  as  though  tempo- 
rarily, at  any  rate,  Richard  would  get  clear  away. 
In  about  fifty  yards,  however,  there  was  a  slight 
block.  The  door  of  the  taxicab  was  wrenched  open, 
and  one  of  the  men  who  were  chasing  him  essayed 
to  enter.  Richard  sent  him  without  difficulty  crash- 
ing back  into  the  street,  only  to  find  that  simultan- 
eously the  other  door  had  been  opened,  and  that  his 
hands  were  held  from  behind  in  a  grip  of  iron.  At 
the  same  time  he  looked  into  the  muzzle  of  Craw- 
shay's  revolver. 

"  Sit  down,"  the  latter  commanded. 

Brightman,  too,  was  in  the  taxicab,  and  one  of  the 
other  men  had  his  foot  upon  the  step.  With  a 
shrug  of  the  shoulders,  the  young  man  accepted  the 
inevitable  and  obeyed.  Brightman  leaned  out  of  the 
window,  gave  a  direction  to  the  driver,  and  the  taxi- 
cab  was  driven  slowly  in  through  the  assembling 
crowd.  Richard  leaned  back  in  his  corner  and 
glared  at  his  two  companions. 

"  Say,  this  is  nice  beha\dour  to  an  officer !  "  he 
exclaimed  truculently,  "  I  am  on  my  way  to  catch 
the  leave  train.      How  dare  you  interfere  with  me !  " 

"  Perhaps,"  Crawshay  remarked,  "  we  may  con- 
sider that  the  time  has  arrived  for  explanations." 

"  Then  you'd  better  out  with  them  quick,"  Rich- 
ard  continued   angrily.     "  I    am   an    officer   in   His 


270     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Britannic  Majesty's  Service,  come  over  to  fight  for 
vou  because  you  can't  do  your  own  job.  Do  you 
get  that,  Crawshay  ?  " 

"  I  am  listening." 

"  I  am  on  my  way  to  catch  the  ten  o'clock  train 
from  Charing  Cross,"  Richard  went  on.  "  If  I 
don't  catch  it,  my  leave  will  be  broken." 

"  I  feel  sure,"  Crawshay  remarked  drily,  "  that 
the  authorities  will  recognise  the  fact  that  3'ou  made 
every  effort  to  do  so.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  there  will 
be  a  supplementary  train  leaving  at  ten-forty-five, 
which  it  is  possible  that  you  may  be  able  to  catch. 
Explanations  such  as  I  have  to  offer  are  not  to  be 
given  in  a  taxicab.  I  have  therefore  directed  the 
man  to  drive  to  my  rooms.  I  trust  that  you  will 
come  quietly.  If  the  result  of  our  conversation  is 
satisfactory,  as  I  remarked  before,  you  can  still 
catch  your  train." 

Richard  glanced  at  the  man  seated  opposite  to 
him  —  a  great  strong  fellow  who  was  obviously  now 
prepared  for  any  surprise ;  at  Brightman,  who,  lithe 
and  tense,  seemed  watching  his  every  movement;  at 
the  little  revolver  which  Crawshay,  although  he  kept 
it  out  of  sight,  was  still  holding. 

"  Seems  to  me  I'm  up  against  it,"  he  muttered. 
**  You'll  have  to  pay  for  it  afterwards,  you  fellows, 
I  can  tell  you  that." 

They  accepted  his  decision  in  silence,  and  a  few 
minutes  later  they  descended  outside  the  little  block 
of  flats  in  which  Crawshay's  rooms  were  situated. 
Richard  made  no  further  attempt  to  escape,  stepped 
into  the  lift  of  his  own  accord,  and  threw  himself 
into  an  easy-chair  as  soon  as  the  little  party  entered 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     271 

Crawshay's  sitting  room.  There  was  a  gloomy 
frown  upon  his  forehead,  but  the  sight  of  a  whisky 
decanter  and  a  soda-water  syphon  upon  the  side- 
board, appeared  to  cheer  him  up. 

"  I  think,"  he  suggested  tentatively,  "  that  after 
the   excitement   of  the   last  half-hour — " 

"  You  will  allow  me  to  offer  you  a  whisky  and 
soda,"  Crawshay  begged,  mixing  it  and  bringing  it 
'himself.  "  When  you  have  drunk  it,  I  have  to  tell 
you  that  it  is  our  intention  to  search  you." 

*'  What  the  devil  for.''  "  the  young  man  demanded, 
with  the   tumbler   stil]   in   his   hand. 

"  We  suspect  you  of  having  in  your  possession 
certain  documents  of  a  treasonous  nature." 

"Documents.^"  Richard  jeered.  "Don't  talk 
nonsense!  And  treasonous  to  whom?  I  am  an 
American  citizen." 

"  That,"  Crawshay  reminded  him,  "  is  entirely 
contrary  to  j^our  declaration  when  a  commission  in 
His  Majesty's  Flying  Corps  was  granted  to  you. 
The  immediate  question,  however,  is  are  you  going 
to  submit  to  search  or  not.^  " 

Richard  glanced  al  that  ominous  glitter  in  Craw- 
shay's right  hand,  glanced  at  Brightman,  and  at  the 
giant  who  was  standing  barely  a  yard  away,  and 
shrugged  his  shoulders. 

"  I  suppose  you  must  do  what  you  want  to,"  he 
acquiesced  sullenly,  "  but  you'll  have  to  answer  for 
it  —  I  can  tell  you  that.     It's  a  damnable  liberty  !  " 

He  drank  up  his  whisky  and  soda  and  set  down  the 
empty  glass.  The  search  which  proceeded  took  a 
very  few  moments.  Soon  upon  the  table  was  gath- 
ered the  usual  collection  of  such  articles  as  a  man  in 


272     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Richard's  position  might  be  expected  to  possess,  and 
last  of  all,  from  the  inside  of  his  vest,  next  to  his 
skin,  was  drawn  a  long  blue  envelope,  fastened  at 
either  end  with  a  peculiar  green  seal.  Crawshay's 
heart  beat  fast  as  he  watched  it  placed  upon  the 
table.  Richard  seemed  to  have  lost  much  of  his 
truculence  of  manner. 

"  That  packet,"  he  declared,  "  is  my  personal 
property.  It  contains  nothing  of  any  moment 
whatever,  nothing  which  would  be  of  the  least  inter- 
est to  you." 

"  In  that  case,"  Brlghtman  promised,  "  it  will  be 
returned  to  you.  INIr.  Crawshay,"  he  added,  turn- 
ing towards  him,  "  I  must  ask  you,  as  you  repre- 
sent the  Government  in  this  matter,  to  break  these 
seals  and  acquaint  yourself  with  the  nature  of  the 
contents  of  this  envelope,  which  I  have  reason  to 
suppose  was  handed  to  Captain  Beverley  by  Jocelyn 
Thcw,  a  few  minutes  ago." 

Crawshay  took  the  envelope  into  his  hands. 

"  I  am  sorry.  Captain  Beverley,"  he  declared, 
"  but  I  must  do  as  Mr.  Brightman  has  suggested. 
This  man  Jocelyn  Thew,  with  whom  you  have  been 
in  constant  association,  is  under  very  grave  sus- 
picion of  having  brought  to  England  documents  of 
a  treasonable  nature." 

"  I  suppose,"  Richard  said  defiantly,  "  you  must 

do  as  you  d d  well  please.     My  time  will  come 

afterwards." 

Crawshay  broke  the  seal,  thrust  his  hand  into  the 
envelope  and  drew  out  a  pile  of  closely  folded  papers. 
One  by  one  he  laid  them  upon  the  table  and  smoothed 
them  out.     Even  before  he  had  glanced  at  the  first 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     273 

one,  a  queer  presentiment  seemed  suddenly  to  chill 
the  blood  in  his  veins.  His  eyes  became  a  trifle  dis- 
tended. They  were  all  there  now,  a  score  or  more  of 
slieets  of  thin  foreign  note  paper,  covered  with  hand- 
vrriting  of  a  distinctly  feminine  t^'pe.  The  two  men 
read  —  Richard  Beverley  watched  them  scowling! 

"  What  the  mischief  little  May  Boswell's  letters 
have  to  do  with  you  fellows,  I  can't  imagine !  "  he 
muttered.  "  Go  on  reading,  you  bounders !  Much 
good  may  they  do  you  !  '* 

There  were  minutes  of  breathless  silence.  Then 
Crawshay,  as  the  last  sheet  slipped  through  his 
fingers,  glanced  stealthily  into  Brightman's  face, 
saw  him  bite  through  his  lips  till  the  blood  came  and 
strike  the  table  with  -his  clenched  fist. 

*'  My  God !  "  he  exclaimed,  snatching  up  the  tel- 
ephone receiver.  "  Jocelyn  Thew  has  done  us 
again !  " 

"  And  you  let  him  walk  out !  "  Crawshay  groaned. 

"We'll  find  him,"  Brightman  shouted.  "Here, 
Central !  Give  me  Scotland  Yard.  Scotland  Yard, 
quick !     Johnson,  you  take  a  taxi  to  the  Savoy." 

Unnoticed,  Richard  Beverley  had  risen  to  his  feet 
and  helped  himself  to  another  whisky  and  soda. 

"  If  you  are  now  convinced,"  he  said,  turning 
towards  them,  "  that  I  am  carrying  nothing  more 
treasonable  than  the  love  letters  of  my  best  girl, 
I  should  be  glad  to  know  what  you  have  to  say  to 
me  on  the  subject  of  my  detention?  " 

Crawshay  for  once  forgot  his  manners. 

"  Damn  your  detention  !  "  he  replied.  "  Get  off 
and  catch  your  train." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

On  the  extreme  edge  of  a  stony  and  wide-spreading 
moor,  Jocelyn  Thew  suddenly  brought  the  ancient 
motor-car  which  he  was  driving  to  a  somewhat  abrupt 
and  perilous  standstill.  He  stood  up  in  his  seat, 
■unrecognisable,  transformed.  From  his  face  had 
passed  the  repression  of  many  years.  His  lips  were 
gentle  and  quivering  as  a  woman's,  his  eyes  seemed 
to  have  grown  larger  and  softer  as  they  swept  with  a 
greedj^  passionate  gaze  the  view  at  his  feet.  All 
that  was  hard  and  cruel  seemed  to  have  passed  sud- 
denly from  his  face.  He  was  like  a  poet  or  a  pro- 
phet, gazing  down  upon  the  land  of  his  desires. 

Behind  him  lay  the  rolling  moor,  cloven  by  that 
one  ribbonlike  stretch  of  uneven  road,  broken  here 
and  there  with  great  masses  of  lichen-covered  grey 
rock,  by  huge  clumps  of  purple  heather,  long,  glit- 
tering streaks  of  yellow  gorse.  The  morning  was 
young,  and  little  shrouds  of  white  mist  were  still 
hanging  around.  His  own  clothes  were  damp.  Lit- 
tle beads  of  moisture  were  upon  his  face.  But  be- 
low, where  the  Atlantic  billows  came  thundering  in 
upon  a  rock-strewn  coast,  the  sun,  slowly  gathering 
strength,  seemed  to  be  rolling  aside  the  feathery 
gre}'  clouds.  Downwards,  split  with  great  ravines, 
the  road  now  sloped  abruptly  to  a  little  plateau  of 
farmland,  on  the  seaward  edge  of  which  stood  the 
ruins  of  a  grey  castle.     Dotted  here  and  there  about 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS      ijs 

that  pastoral  strip  and  on  the  opposite  hillside,  were 
a  few  white-washed  cottages.  Beyond  these  no  hu- 
man habitation,  no  other  sign  of  life. 

The  traveller  gazed  downwards  till  he  suddenly 
found  a  new  mist  before  his  eyes.  Nothing  was 
changed.  Everywhere  he  looked  upon  familiar  ob- 
jects. There  was  the  little  harbour  where  he  had 
moored  his  boat,  scarcely  more  than  a  pool  sur- 
rounded by  those  huge  masses  of  jagged  rocks;  the 
fields  where  he  had  played,  the  cave  in  the  cliffs  where 
he  had  sat  and  dreamed.  This  was  his  own  little 
corner,  the  land  which  his  forefathers  had  sworn  to 
deliver,  the  land  for  which  his  father  had  died,  for 
which  he  had  become  an  exile,  to  which  he  returned 
with  the  price  of  death  upon  his  head. 

After  a  while  he  slipped  down  from  the  car,  ex- 
amined the  brakes,  mounted  to  his  seat  and  com- 
menced the  precipitous  descent.  Skilful  driver 
though  he  was,  more  than  once  he  was  compelled  to 
turn  into  the  cliff  side  of  the  road  in  order  to  check 
his  gathering  speed.  At  last,  however,  he  reached 
the  lowlands  in  safety.  On  the  left-hand  side  now 
was  the  rock-strewn  beach,  and  the  almost  deafening 
roar  of  the  Atlantic.  On  the  right  and  in  front, 
fields,  no  longer  like  patchwork  but  showing  some 
signs  of  cultivation ;  here  and  there,  indeed,  the 
stooping  forms  of  labourers  —  men,  drab-coloured, 
unnoticeable ;  women  in  bright  "green  and  scarlet 
shawls  and  short  petticoats.  He  passed  a  little  row 
of  whitewashed  cottages,  from  whose  doorways  and 
windows  the  children  and  old  people  stared  at  him 
with  strange  eyes.  One  old  man  who  met  his  gaze 
crossed  himself  hastily    and   disappeared.     Jocelyn 


276     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Thew  looked  after  him  with  a  bitter  smile  upon  his 
lips.     He  knew  so  well  the  cause  of  the  terror. 

He  came  at  last  to  the  great  gates  Idllding  to  the 
ruined  castle,  gates  whose  pillars  were  surmounted 
by  huge  griffins.  He  looked  at  the  deserted  lodges, 
the  coat  of  arms,  nothing  of  which  remained  but  a 
few  drooping  fragments.  He  shook  the  iron  gates, 
which  still  held  together,  in  vain.  Finally  he  drove 
the  car  through  an  opening  in  the  straggling  fence, 
and  up  the  long,  grass-grown  avenue,  until  he 
reached  the  building  itself.  Here  he  descended, 
walked  along  the  weed-framed  flags  to  the  arched 
front  door,  by  the  side  of  which  hung  the  rust}'  and 
broken  fragments  of  a  bell,  at  which  he  pulled  for 
some  moments  in  vain.  To  all  appearances  the  place 
was  entirely  deserted.  No  one  answered  his  shout, 
or  the  wheezy  summons  of  the  cracked  and  feeble 
bell.  He  passed  along  the  front,  barely  out  of 
reach  of  the  spray  which  a  strong  west  wind  was 
bringing  from  seaward,  looked  in  through  deserted 
windows  till  he  came  at  last  to  a  great  crack  in  the 
walls,  through  which  he  stepped  into  a  ruined  apart- 
ment. It  was  thus  that  he  entered  the  home  in 
which  he  had  been  born. 

He  made  his  way  into  a  stone  passage,  along 
which  he  passed  until  a  door  on  his  right  yielded  to 
his  touch.  In  front  of  him  now  were  what  had  been 
the  state  apartments,  stretching  along  the  whole 
front  of  the  castle  save  the  little  corner  where  he 
had  entered.  Here  was  dilapidation  supreme,  com- 
plete. The  white,  stone-flagged  floor  knew  no  cov- 
ering save  here  and  there  a  strip  of  torn  matting. 
The  walls  were  stained  with  damp.     At  long  inter- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     277 

Tals  were  tables  and  chairs  of  jet-black  oak,  in  all 
sorts  and  states  of  decay.  On  one  or  two  remained 
the  fragments  of  some  crimson  velvet, —  on  the  back 
of  one,  remnants  of  a  coat  of  arms !  And  here,  en- 
tirely in  keeping  with  the  scene  of  desolation,  were 
the  first  signs  of  human  life  —  an  old  man  with  a 
grey  beard,  leaning  upon  a  stick,  who  walked  slowly 
back  and  forth,  mumbling  to  himself. 

A  new  light  broke  across  Jocelyn  Thew's  face  as 
he  listened,  and  the  tears  stood  in  his  eyes.  The 
man  was  reciting  Gaelic  verses,  verses  familiar  to 
him  from  childhood.  The  whole  desolate  picture 
seemed  to  envisage  thoughts  which  he  had  never  been 
able  to  drive  from  his  mind,  seemed  in  the  person  of 
this  old  man  to  breathe  such  incomparable,  unalter- 
able fidelity  that  he  felt  himself  suddenly  a  traitor 
who  had  slipped  unworthily  away  and  hidden  from 
a  righteous  doom.  Better  that  his  blood  had  been 
spilt  and  his  bones  buried  in  the  soil  of  the  land 
than  to  have  become  a  fugitive,  to  have  placed  an 
ocean  between  himself  and  the  voices  to  which  this 
old  man  had  listened,  day  by  day  and  night  by  night, 
through  the  years  ! 

Jocelyn  Thew  stole  softly  out  of  the  shadows. 

"  Timothy,"  he  called  quietly. 

The  old  man  paused  in  his  walk.  Then  he  came 
forward  towards  the  speaker  and  dropped  on  one 
knee.  His  face  showed  no  surprise,  though  his  eyes 
were  strange  and  almost  terribly  brilliant. 

"  The  Cathley  !  "  he  exclaimed.     "  God  is  good  !  " 

He  kissed  his  master's  hand,  which  he  had  seized 
with  almost  frantic  joy.  Jocelyn  Thew  raised  him 
to  his  feet. 


278     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  You  recognised  me  then,  Timothy  ?  " 

*'  There  is  no  Cathley  in  the  world,"  the  old  man 
answered  passionately,  "  would  ever  rise  up  before 
me  and  call  himself  by  any  other  name." 

"  Am  I  safe  here,  Timothy,  for  a  day  or  two?  " 

The  old  man's  scorn  was  a  wonderful  thing. 

"  Safe !"  he  repeated.  "Safe!  There  is  just  a 
dozen  miles  or  so  of  the  Kingdom  of  Ireland  where 
the  stranger  who  came  on  evil  business  would  disap- 
pear, and  it's  our  pride  that  we  are  the  centre  of  it." 

"  They've  held  on,  then,  in  these  parts?  " 

"Hold  on?  Why,  the  fire  that  smouldered  has 
become  a  blaze,"  was  the  eager  response.  "  Ireland 
is  our  country  here.     Why  —  you  know?  " 

"  Know  what?  "  Jocelyn  Thew  demanded.  "  You 
must  treat  me  as  a  stranger,  Timothy.  I  have  been 
living  under  a  false  name.  News  has  failed  me  for 
years." 

"  Don't  you  know,"  the  old  man  went  on  eagerly, 
"  that  they  meet  here  in  the  castle,  the  men  who 
count  —  Hagen,  the  poet,  Matlaske,  the  lawyer, 
Indewick,  Michael  Dilwyn,  Harrison,  and  the  great 
O'Clory  himself?" 

"  I  thought  O'Clory  was  in  prison  since  the  Sinn 
Fein  rising." 

"  In  prison,  aye,  but  they  daren't  keep  him  there !  " 
was  the  fierce  reply.  "  They  had  a  taste  then  of  the 
things  that  are  ablaze  through  the  country.  The 
O'Clory  and  the  others  will  be  here  to-night,  under 
your  own  roof.  Aye,  and  the  guard  will  be  out, 
and  there'll  be  no  Englishman  dare  come  within  a 
dozen  miles ! " 

Jocelyn  Thew  walked  away  to  one  of  the  great 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     279 

windows  and  looked  out  seaward.  The  old  servant 
limped  over  to  his  side. 

"  Your  honour,"  he  said,  his  voice  shaking  even  as 
the  hands  which  clasped  his  stick,  "  this  is  a  won- 
derful day  —  sure,   a   wonderful  day  !  " 

"For  me,  too,  Timothy!" 

"  You've  been  a  weary  time  gone.  Maybe  you've 
lain  hidden  across  the  seas  there  —  you've  heard 
nothing." 

"  I've  heard  little  enough,  Timothy,"  his  master 
told  him  sadly.  *'  There  came  a  time  when  I  put  the 
newspapers  away  from  me.  I  did  it  that  I  might 
keep  sane." 

"  You've  missed  much  then,  Sir  Denis.  There 
has  been  cruelty  and  wickedness,  treason  and  murder 
afoot,  but  the  spirit  of  the  dear  land  has  never  even 
flickered  in  these  parts.  The  arms  we  sent  to  Dub- 
lin were  landed  in  yonder  bay,  and  there  was  none 
to  stop  them,  either,  though  they  laid  hands  on  that 
poor  madman  who  well-nigh  brought  us  all  to  ruin. 
There's  strange  craft  rides  there  now,  where  your 
honour's  looking." 

A  silence  fell  between  the  two  men.  Presently 
the  steward  withdrew. 

"  I'll  be  seeing  after  your  honour's  room,"  he  mur- 
mured, "  and  there's  others  to  tell.  There's  a  drop 
of  something  left,  too,  in  the  cellars,  thank  God !  " 

Jocelyn  Thew  listened  to  the  retreating  footsteps 
and  then  for  a  moment  pushed  open  the  window. 
There*  was  the  old  roar  once  more,  which  seemed  to 
have  dwelt  in  his  ears ;  the  salt  sting,  the  scream  of 
the  pebbles,  the  cry  of  a  wheeling  gull.  There  was 
the  headland  round  which  he  had  sailed  his  yacht, 


28o     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

the  moorland  over  which  he  had  wandered  with  his 
gun,  the  meadow  round  which  he  had  tried  the  wild 
young  horses.  In  those  few  seconds  of  ecstatic  joy, 
he  seemed  for  the  first  time  to  realise  all  that  he  had 
suffered  during  his  long  exile. 

More  and  more  unreal  seemed  to  grow  the  world 
in  which  Sir  Denis  Jocelyn  Cathley  passed  that  day. 
Time  after  time,  the  great  hall  in  which  he  had 
played  when  a  boy,  draughty  now  but  still  moder- 
ately weather-tight,  had  echoed  to  the  roars  of  wel- 
come from  old  associates.  But  the  climax  of  it  all 
came  later  on,  when  he  sat  at  the  head  of  the  long, 
black  oak  table,  presiding  over  what  was  surely  the 
strangest  feast  ever  prepared  and  given  to  the 
strangest  gathering  of  guests.  The  tablecloth  of 
fine  linen  was  patched  and  mended  —  here  and  there 
still  in  holes.  Some  of  the  dishes  were  of  silver  and 
others  of  kitchen  china.  There  were  knives  and 
forks  beautifullj'  shaped  and  fashioned,  mingled  with 
the  horn-handled  ware  of  the  kitchen ;  silver  plate 
and  common  pewter  side  by  side ;  priceless  glass  and 
common  tumblers ;  fragments  of  beautiful  china  and 
here  and  there  white  dclf,  borrowed  from  a  neigh- 
bouring farm.  The  fare  was  simple  but  plentiful ; 
tlie  only  drink  whisky  and  some  ancient  Marsala,  in 
dust-covered  bottles,  produced  by  Timothy  with 
great  pride  and  served  with  his  own  hand.  The 
roar  which  had  greeted  the  first  drinking  of  Sir 
Denis'  health  had  scarceh'  died  away  when  itiichael 
Dilwyn  led  the  way  to  the  final  sensation. 

"  Denis,  my   boy,"  he  said,  "  there's   a  trifle  of 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     281 

mystery  about  you  yet.  Will  you  tell  me  then,  why, 
when  I  spoke  to  you  at  the  Savoy  Restaurant  the 
other  night,  you  denied  your  own  identity?  Told 
me  your  name  was  Thcw,  or  something  like  it, 
and  I  your  father's  oldest  friend,  and  your  own, 
too !  " 

A  sudden  flood  of  recollection  unlocked  some  of  the 
fears  in  Denis  Cathley's  breast. 

"  I  have  not  used  the  name  of  Cathley  for  many 
years,"  he  said.  "  Was  it  likely  that  I  should  own 
to  it  there,  in  the  heart  of  London,  with  a  price  upon 
my  head,  and  half  a  dozen  people  within  earshot.'' 
I  came  back  to  England  at  the  risk  of  my  life,  on  a 
special  errand.  I  scarcely  dared  to  hope  that  I 
might  meet  any  of  you.  I  just  wanted  twelve  hours 
here  — " 

"Stop,     lad!"     Dilwyn     interrupted.     "What's' 
that  about  a  price  on  your  head?     You've  missed 
none  of  our  letters,  b}'  any  chance?  " 

"Letters?"  Sir  Denis  repeated.  "I  have  had 
no  word  from  this  country,  not  even  from  Timothy 
here,  for  over  three  years  and  a  half." 

There  was  a  little  murmur  of  wonder.  The  truth 
was  beginning  to  dawn  upon  them. 

"  It'll  be  the  censor,  maybe,"  Michael  Dilwyn 
murmured.  "  Tell  us,  Denis  Cathley,  what  brought 
you  back,  then?  What  was  this  special  errand  you 
spoke  of?  " 

"  Nothing  I  can  discuss,  even  with  you,"  was  the 
grim  answer.  "  It  was  a  big  risk,  in  more  ways 
than  one,  but  if  to-night  keeps  calm  I'll  bring  it 
off." 

**  You've  had  no  letters  for  three  years,"  Michael 


282     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Dilwyn  repeated.  "  Why,  d n  it,  boy,"  he  ex- 
claimed, striking  the  table  with  his  fist,  "  maybe  you 
don't  know,  then?     You  haven't  heard  of  it?  " 

"  Heard  of  what?  "  Sir  Denis  demanded. 

"  Your  pardon  !  " 

"My  — what?" 

"  Your  pardon,"  was  the  hoarse  reply,  "  signed 
and  sealed  a  year  ago,  before  the  Dublin  matter. 
Things  aren't  as  bad  as  they  were !  There's  a  dif- 
ferent spirit  abroad.—  Pass  him  the  Madeira, 
Hagan.     Sure,  this  has  unnerved  him !  " 

Sir  Denis  drank  mechanically,  drank  until  he  felt 
the  fire  of  the  old  wine  in  his  veins.  He  set  the  glass 
down  empty. 

"  My  pardon  !  "  he  muttered. 

"  It's  true,"  Hagan  assured  him.  *'  You  were  one 
of  a  dozen.  I  wrote  you  with  my  own  hand  to  the 
last  address  we  had  from  you,  somewhere  out  on  the 
west  coast  of  America.  Dilwyn's  right  enough. 
England  has  a  Government  at  last.  There  are  men 
there  who  want  to  find  the  truth.  They  know  what 
we  are  and  what  we  stand  for.  You  can  judge  what 
I  mean  when  I  tell  you  that  we  speak  as  we  please 
here,  openly,  and  no  one  ventures  to  disturb  us. 
Denis,  they've  begun  to  see  the  truth.  Dilwyn  here 
will  tell  you  the  same  thing.  He  was  in  Downing 
Street  only  last  week." 

"  I  was  indeed  —  I,  Michael  Dilwyn,  the  outlaw  ! 
—  and  they  listened  to  me." 

"  The  days  are  coming,"  Hagan  continued,  "  for 
which  we've  pawned  our  lands,  our  relatives,  and 
some  of  us  our  liberty.  Please  God  there  isn't  one 
here  that  won't  see   a   free  Ireland!     We've  ham- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     283 

mered  it  into  their  dull  Saxon  brains.  It's  been  a 
long,  drear  night,  but  the  dawn's  breaking." 

"  And  I  am  pardoned !  "  Sir  Denis  repeated  won- 
deringly. 

"  Where  have  you  been  to  these  three  years,  man, 
that  you've  heard  nothing?  "  Michael  Dilwyn  asked. 

"  In  Mexico,  Cuba,  Nicaragua,  Uraguay.  You're 
right.  I've  been  out  of  the  world.  I  crept  out  of 
it  deliberately.  When  I  left  here,  nothing  seemed  so 
hopeless  as  the  thought  that  a  time  of  justice  might 
come.  I  cut  myself  off  even  from  news.  I  have 
lived  without  a  name  and  without  a  future." 

"  Maybe  for  the  best,"  Hagan  declared  cheerfully. 
"  Remember  that  it's  but  twelve  months  ago  since 
your  pardon  was  signed,  and  you'd  have  done  ill  to 
have  found  your  way  back  before  then. —  But  what 
about  this  mission  you  spoke  of.''  " 

Sir  Denis  looked  down  the  table.  Of  servants 
there  was  only  old  Timothy  at  the  sideboard,  and  of 
those  who  were  gathered  around  his  board  there  was 
not  one  whom  he  could  doubt. 

"  I  will  tell  you  about  that,"  he  promised,  leaning 
a  little  forward.  "  You  have  read  of  the  documents 
and  the  famous  stolen  letter  which  were  supposed  to 
have  been  brought  over  to  England  in  a  certain 
trunk,  protected  by  the  seal  of  a  neutral  country  ?  " 

"  Why,  sure !  "  Michael  Dilwyn  murmured  under 
his  breath.  "  The  box  was  to  have  been  opened  at 
Downing  Street,  but  one  heard  nothing  more  of  it." 

"  The  stolen  letter,"  Hagan  remarked,  "  was  sup- 
posed to  have  been  indiscreet  enough  to  have  brought 
about  the  ruin  of  a  great  man  in  America." 

Sir  Denis  nodded. 


284     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  You've  got  the  story  all  right,"  he  said.  "  Well, 
those  papers  never  were  in  that  trunk.  I  brought 
them  over  myself  in  the  City  of  Boston.  I  brought 
them  over  under  the  nose  of  a  Secret  Service  man, 
and  although  the  steamer  and  all  of  us  on  board 
were  searched  from  head  to  foot  in  the  Mersey  be- 
fore we  were  permitted  to  land." 

"  And  where  are  they  now  ? "  JVlichael  Dilwyn 
asked. 

Sir  Denis  drew  a  long  envelope  from  his  pocket 
and  laid  it  upon  the  table  before  him.  Almost  as 
he  did  so,  another  little  sensation  brought  them  all  to 
their  feet.  They  hurried  to  the  window.  From 
about  a  mile  out  seaward,  a  blue  ball,  followed  by 
anotlicr,  had  shot  up  into  the  sky.  Sir  Denis 
watched  for  a  moment  steadily.  Then  he  pointed  to 
a  bonfire  which  had  been  lighted  on  the  beach. 

"  That,"  he  pointed  out,  "  is  my  signal,  and  there 
is  the  answer.  The  documents  you  have  all  read 
about  are  in  that  envelope." 

There  was  a  queer,  protracted  silence,  a  silence 
of  doubt  and  difficulty. 

"  It  will  be  a  German  submarine,  that,"  Michael 
Dilwyn  declared.  "  She  has  come  to  pick  up  your 
papers,  maybe.''  " 

"  That's  true,"  was  the  quiet  answer.  "  I  was 
to  light  the  fire  on  the  beach  the  morhent  I  arrived. 
The  blue  balls  were  to  be  my  answer." 

The  O'Clory,  a  big,  silent  man,  leaned  over  and 
laid  his  hand  on  his  host's  shoulder. 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  about  it.''"  he  de- 
manded. 

"  For  the  moment  I  do  not  know,"  Sir  Denie  con- 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     285 

fessed.  "  Advise  me,  all  of  you.  I  undertook  this 
enterprise  partly  because  of  its  danger,  partly  for 
a  great  sum  of  money  which  I  should  have  handed 
over  to  our  cause,  partly  because  if  I  succeeded  it 
would  hurt  England.  Now  I  have  come  back  and 
I  find  you  all  moved  by  a  different  spirit." 

"  There  isn't  a  man  in  this  island,"  Michael  Dil- 
wyn  said  slowly,  "  who  has  hated  England  as  I  have. 
She  has  been  our  oppressor  for  generations,  and  in 
return  we  have  given  her  the  best  of  our  sons,  their 
life-blood,  their  genius,  their  souls.  And  yet,  with 
it  all  there  is  a  bond.  Our  children  have  married 
theirs,  and  when  we've  looked  together  over  the  side, 
we've  seen  the  same  things.  We've  made  use  of 
Germans,  Denis,  but  I  tell  you  frankly  I  hate  them. 
There  are  two  things  every  Irishman  loves  —  justice 
and  courage  —  and  England  went  into  this  war  in 
the  great  manner.  She  has  done  big  things,  and  I 
tell  you,  in  a  sneaking  sort  of  way  we're  proud.  I 
am  honest  with  you,  you  see,  Denis.  You  can  guess, 
from  what  I've  said,  what  I'd  do  with  that  packet." 

Sir  Denis  turned  to  the  O'Clory. 

"  And  you  ?  "  he  asked. 

"  My  boy,"  was  the  reply,  "  sure  Michael's  right. 
I've  hated  England,  I've  shouldered  a  rifle  against 
her,  I've  talked  treason  up  and  down  the  country, 
and  I've  known  the  inside  of  a  prison.  I've  spat 
at  her  authority.  I've  said  in  plain  words  what  I 
think  of  her  —  fat,  commerce-ridden,  smug,  selfish. 
I've  watched  her  bleed  and  been  glad  of  it,  but  at 
the  bottom  of  my  heart  I'd  have  liked  to  have  seen 
her  outstretched  hand.  Denis,  lad,  that's  coming. 
We've  got  to  remember  that  we,  too,  are  a  proud, 


286     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

obstinate,  pig-headed  race.  We've  got  to  meet  that 
hand  half-way,  and  when  the  moment  comes  I'd  like 
to  be  the  first  to  raise  the  boys  round  here  and  give 
the  Germans  hell !  " 

Another  blue  ball  shot  up  into  the  sky.  Sir  Denis 
took  the  packet  of  papers  from  the  table  and  stood 
by  the  great  open  stone  hearth.  Michael  Dilwyn 
moved  to  his  side,  a  gaunt,  impressive  figure. 

"  You're  doing  the  right  thing,  Denis,"  he  de- 
clared. "  What  fighting  we've  done,  and  any  that 
we  may  still  have  to  do  with  England,  we'll  do  it 
on  the  surface.  I  was  down  at  Queenstown  when 
they  brought  in  some  of  the  bodies  from  the  Lusitania. 
To  Hell  with  such  tricks !  There's  no  Irishman  yet 
has  ever  joined  hands  with  those  who  war  against 
women  and  babies." 

Denis  drew  a  log  of  burning  wood  out  on  to  the 
hearth  and  laid  the  packet  deliberately  upon  it.  He 
stood  there  watching  the  smoke  curl  upwards  as  the 
envelope  shrivelled  and  the  flames  crept  from  one 
end  to  the  other. 

"  That  seems  a  queer  thing  to  do,"  he  observed, 
with  a  dry  little  laugh.  "  I've  carried  my  life  in 
my  hands  for  those  papers,  and  there's  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  waiting  for  them,  not  a  mile  away." 

"  Blood-money,  boy,"  the  O'Clory  reminded  him, 
**  and  anyway  there's  a  touch  of  the  evil  thing  about 
strangers'  gold, —  Eh,  but  who's  this.''" 

A  large  motor-car  had  suddenly  flashed  by  the 
window.  With  the  instinct  of  past  dangers,  the 
little  gathering  of  men  drew  close  together.  There 
was  the  sound  of  an  impatient  voice  in  the  hall.  The 
door  was  opened  hurriedly  and  Crawshay  stepped  in. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     287 

"  It  is  a  gentleman  in  a  great  hurry,  jour  honour," 
rimothy  explained. 

Crawshay,  dour  and  threatening,  came  a  little  fur- 
ther into  the  room.  Behind  him  in  the  hall  was  a 
vision  of  his  escort.  Sir  Denis  looked  up  from  the 
hearth  with  a  poker  in  his  hand. 

"  My  friend,"  he  observed,  "  it  seems  to  be  your 
unfortunate  destiny  to  be  always  five  minutes  too 
late  in  life." 

Crawshay's  outstretched  hand  pointed  denounc- 
inglv  through  the  window  towards  the  bay. 

"  If  I  am  too  late  this  time,"  he  declared,  "  then 
an  act  of  treason  has  been  committed.  You  know 
what  it  means,  I  suppose,  to  communicate  with  the 
enemy.''  " 

Denis  shook  his  head. 

"  As  yet,"  he  said,  "  we  have  held  no  communica- 
tion with  our  visitors.  If  you  doubt  my  word,  come 
down  on  your  knees  with  me  and  examine  these 
ashes." 

Crawshay,  with  a  little  exclamation,  crossed  the 
floor  and  crouched  down  by  the  other's  side.  A 
word  or  two  in  the  topmost  document  stared  at  him. 
The  seal  of  the  envelope  had  melted,  and  a  little 
thread  of  green  wax  had  made  a  strange  pattern  upon 
the  stones. 

"  Is  this  the  end,  then  ?  "  he  demanded  in  bewilder- 
ment. 

"  It  is  the  end,"  was  the  solemn  reply.  "  Perhaps 
if  you  take  the  ashes  away  with  a^ou,  you  will  be 
able  to  consider  that  honours   are  divided." 

"You  burnt  them  —  yourself.'*"  Crawshay  mut- 
tered, still  wondering. 


288     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  Every  gentleman  in  this  room,"  Denis  replied, 
*'  is  witness  of  the  fact  that  I  destroyed  unopened 
the  packet  which  I  brought  from  America,  barely 
five  minutes  ago," 

Crawshay  stood  upright  once  more.  He  was  con- 
vinced but  puzzled. 

"  Will  you  tell  me  what  induced  you  to  do  this  ?  " 
he  asked. 

"  We  will  tell  you  presently.  As  for  the  subma- 
rine outside,  well,  as  you  see,  he  is  still  sending  up 
blue  lights." 

Crawshay  gathered  the  ashes  together  and  thrust 
them  into  an  envelope. 

"  Your  friend  will  be  trying  some  of  our  Irish 
whisky,  Denis,"  IMichael  Dilwyn  invited.  *'  We  are 
hoping  to  make  the  brand  more  popular  in  Eng- 
land before  long." 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 

One  by  one,  the  next  morning,  in  all  manner  of 
vehicles,  the  guests  left  the  Castle.  Sir  Denis  bade 
them  farewell,  parting  with  some  of  them  in  the 
leaky  hall  of  his  ancestors,  and  with  others  out  in 
the  stone-flagged  courtyard.  Crawshay  alone  lin- 
gered, with  the  obvious  air  of  having  something  fur- 
ther to  say  to  his  host.  The  two  men  strolled 
down  together  seaward  to  where  the  great  rocks 
lay  thick  upon  the  stormy  beach. 

"  These,"  Sir  Denis  pointed  out,  "  are  supposed 
to  be  the  marbles  with  which  the  great  giant  Cathley 
used  to  play.  Tradition  is  a  little  vague  upon  the 
subject,  but  according  to  some  of  the  legends  he 
was  actually  an  ancestor,  and  according  to  others 
a  kind  of  patron  saint.  .  .  .  Just  look  at  my  house, 
Crawshay !  What  would  you  do  with  a  place  like 
that?" 

They  turned  and  faced  its  crumbling  front,  majes- 
tic in  places,  squalid  in  others,  one  whole  wing  open 
to  the  rain  and  winds,  one  great  turret  still  as  solid 
and  strong  as  the  rocks  themselves. 

"  It  would  depend  very  much,"  Crawshay  replied, 
"  upon  the  extremely  sordid  question  of  how  much 
money  I  had  to  spend.  If  I  had  enough,  I  should 
certainly  restore  it.     It's  a  wonderful  situation." 

The  eyes   of  its   owner   glowed   as   he   swept  the 


290     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

outline  of  the  storm-battered  country   and  passed 
on  to  the  rich  strip  of  walled-in  fields  above. 

"  It  is  my  home,"  he  said  simply.  "  I  shall  live 
in  no  other  place.  If  this  matter  which  we  discussed 
last  night  should  indeed  prove  to  have  a  solid  foun- 
dation, if  this  even  should  be  the  beginning  of  the 
end  of  the  great  struggle  — " 

^'  But  it  is,"  Cravvshay  interrupted.  "  How  can 
you  doubt  it  if  you  have  read  the  papers  during 
the  last  six  months?  " 

"  I  have  scarcely  glanced  at  an  English  newspaper 
for  ten  years,"  was  his  companion's  reply.  "  I  fled 
to  America,  hating  England  as  a  man  might  do  some 
poisonous  reptile,  sternly  determined  never  to  set 
foot  upon  her  shores  again.  I  left  without  hope.  It 
seemed  to  me  that  she  was  implacable.  The  war 
has  changed  many  things." 

"  You  are  right,"  Crawshay  admitted.  "  In  many 
respects  it  has  changed  the  English  character.  We 
look  now  a  little  further  afield.  We  have  lost  some 
of  our  stubborn  over-confidence.  We  have  grown 
in  many  respects  more  spiritual.  We  have  learnt 
what  it  means  to  make  sacrifices,  sacrifices  not  for 
gold  but  for  a  righteous  cause.  And  as  far  as  re- 
gards this  country  of  yours.  Sir  Denis,"  he  con- 
tinued, "  I  was  only  remarking  a  few  days  ago  that 
the  greatest  opponents  of  Home  Rule  who  have  ever 
mounted  a  political  platform  in  England  have  com- 
pletely changed  their  views.  There  is  only  one  idea 
to-day,  and  that  is  to  let  Ireland  settle  her  own 
affairs.  Such  trouble  as  remains  lies  in  your  own 
country.      Convert  Ulster  and  you  are  free." 

"  You    heard    what    was    said    last    night  ?  "    Sir 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     291 

Denis  reminded  his  companion.  "  The  O'Clory  be- 
lieves that  that  is  already  done." 

The  faintest  of  white  mists  was  being  burnt  away 
now  by  the  strengthening  sun.  Long,  green  waves 
came  rolling  in  from  the  Atlantic.  Distant  rocks 
gleamed  purple  in  the  gathering  sunshine.  The 
green  of  the  fields  grew  deeper,  the  colouring  on  the 
moors  warmer.  Crawshay  lit  a  cigarette  and  leaned 
back  against  a  rock. 

"  Over  in  America,"  he  observed,  "  I  heard  all 
sorts  of  stories  about  you.  The  man  Hobson,  with 
whom  I  was  sent  to  Halifax,  and  who  dragged  me 
off  to  Chicago,  seemed  to  think  that  if  he  could  once 
get  his  hand  on  your  shoulder  there  were  other 
charges  which  you  might  have  to  answer.  Bright- 
man,  that  Liverpool  man,  had  the  same  idea.  I  am 
mentioning  this  for  your  own  sake,  Sir  Denis." 

The  latter  shook  his  head. 

"  Heaven  knows  how  I've  kept  clear,"  he  declared, 
*'  but  there  isn't  a  thing  against  me.  I  sailed  close 
to  the  wind  in  Mexico.  I'd  have  fought  for  them 
against  America  if  they'd  really  meant  business, 
but  they  didn't.  I  was  too  late  for  the  Boer  War 
or  I'd  have  been  in  that  for  a  certainty.  I  went 
through  South  America,  but  the  little  fighting  I 
did  there  doesn't  amount  to  anything.  After  I  came 
back  to  the  States  I  ran  some  close  shaves,  I  admit, 
but  I  kept  clear  of  the  law.  Then  I  got  in  with 
some  Germans  at  Washington.  They  knew  who  I 
was,  and  they  knew  very  well  how  I  felt  about  Eng- 
land. I  did  a  few  things  for  them  —  nothing  riskv. 
They  were  keeping  me  for  som.ething  big.  That 
came   along,    as    you   know.     They    offered   me   the 


292     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

job  of  bringing  these  things  to  England,  and  I  took 
it  on." 

"  For  an  amateur,"  Crawshay  confessed,  "  you 
certainly  did  wonderfully.  I  am  not  a  professional 
detective  myself,  but  you  fairly  beat  us  on  the  sea, 
and  you  practically  beat  us  on  land  as  well." 

"  There's  nothing  succeeds  like  simplicity,"  Denis 
declared.  "  I  gambled  upon  it  that  no  one  would 
think  of  searching  the  curtains  of  the  music  hall  box 
in  which  Gant  and  I  spent  apparently  a  jovial  eve- 
ning. No  one  did  —  until  it  was  too  late.  Then 
I  felt  perfectly  certain  that  both  you  and  Bright- 
man  would  believe  I  was  trying  to  get  hold  of  Rich- 
ard Beverley.  The  poor  fellow  thought  so  him- 
self for  some  time." 

"  There  is  just  one  question,"  Crawshay  said, 
after  a  moment's  pause,  "  which  I'd  like  to  ask.  It's 
about  Nora  Sharey." 

Sir  Denis  glanced  at  his  companion  with  a  faint 
smile.  He  suddenly  realised  the  purport  of  his  lin- 
gering. 

"Well,  what  about  her.?" 

"  She  seems  to  have  followed  you  very  quickly  from 
New  York." 

"  Must  you  put  it  like  that.''  Her  father  and 
brother  were  connected  with  the  German  Secret 
Service  in  New  York,  and  on  the  declaration  of  war 
they  had  to  hide.  She  could  scarcely  stay  there 
alone." 

"  She  might  have  gone  with  her  father  to  Chicago,'* 
Crawshay  observed. 

"  You  must  remember  that  she,  too,  is  Irish,"  Sir 
Denis  pointed  out.     "  I  am  not  at  all  sure  that  she 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     293 

wasn't  a  little  homesick.     B3'-the-by,  are  you  inter- 
ested in  her?  " 

"  Since  you  ask  me,"  Crawshay  replied,  "  I  am." 
Sir  Denis  threw  away  his  cigarette. 
"  I  suppose,"  he  said  quietly,  "  if  I  tell  you  that 
I  am  delighted  to  hear  it,  for  your  own  sake  as  well 
as  hers  — " 

"  That's  all  I  have  been  hanging  about  to  hear," 
Crawshay  interrupted,  turning  towards  the  castle. 
"  I  suppose  we  shall  meet  again  in  London  ?  " 

"  I  think  not.  They  talk  about  sending  me  to 
the  Dublin  Convention  here.  Until  they  want  me, 
I  don't  think  I  shall  move." 

Crawshay  looked  around  him.  The  prospect  in 
its  way  was  beautiful,  but  save  for  a  few  bending 
figures  in  the  distant  fields,  there  was  no  sign  of  any 
human  being. 

"  You  won't  be  able  to  stand  this  for  long,"  he 
remarked.  "  You've  lived  too  turbulent  a  life  to 
vegetate  here." 

Sir  Denis  laughed  softly  but  with  a  new  ring  of 
real  happiness. 

"  It's  clear  that  you  are  not  an  Irishman ! "  he 
declared.  "  I've  been  away  for  over  ten  years.  I 
can  just  breathe  this  air,  wander  about  on  the  beach 
here,  walk  on  that  moorland,  watch  the  sea,  poke 
about  amongst  my  old  ruins,  send  for  the  priest 
and  talk  to  him,  get  my  tenants  together  and  hear 
what  they  have  to  say  —  I  can  do  these  things, 
Crawshay,  and  breathe  the  atmosphere  of  it  all  down 
into  my  lungs  and  be  content.  It's  just  Ireland  — 
that's  all. —  You  hurry  back  to  your  own  bloated, 
over-rich,  smoke-disfigured,  town-ruined  country,  and 


294     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

spend  3'our  money  on  restaurants  and  theatres  if  you 
want  to.     You're  welcome." 

Sir  Denis'  words  sounded  convincing  enough,  but 
his  companion  only  smiled  as  he  brought  his  car 
out  of  a  dilapidated  coach-house,  from  amidst  the 
ruins  of  a  score  of  carriages. 

"  All  the  same,"  he  observed,  as  he  leaned  over 
and  shook  hands  with  his  host,  "  I  should  never  be 
surprised  to  come  across  you  in  that  smoke-disfig- 
ured den  of  infamy !  Look  me  up  when  you  come, 
won't  you?  " 

"  Certainly,"  Sir  Denis  promised.  "  And  —  my 
regards  to  Nora  !  " 

Richard  Beverley,  after  his  first  embrace,  held  his 
sister's  hands  for  a  moment  and  looked  into  her  face. 

"  Why,  Katharine,"  he  exclaimed,  "  London's  not 
agreeing  with  you !     You  look  pale." 

She  laughed  carelessly. 

"  It  was  the  heat  last  month,"  she  told  him.  "  I 
shall  be  all  right  now.      How  well  you're  looking !  " 

"  I'm  fine,"  he  admitted.  "  It's  a  great  life,  Kath- 
arine.    I'm  kind  of  worried  about  you,  though." 

"  There  is  nothing  whatever  the  matter  with  me,'* 
she  assured  him,  "  except  that  I  want  some  work. 
In  a  few  days'  time  now  I  shall  have  it.  I  have 
eighty  nurses  on  the  way  from  the  hospital,  with 
doctors  and  dressers  and  a  complete  St.  Agnes's 
outfit.  They  sailed  yesterday,  and  I  shall  go  across 
to  Havre  to  meet  them." 

"Good  for  you!"  Richard  exclaimed.  "Say, 
Katharine,  what  about  lunch.'*  " 

"  You  must  be  starving,"  she  declared.     "  We'll 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     295 

go  down  and  have  it.  I  feel  better  already,  Dick. 
I  think  I  must  have  been  lonely." 

They  went  arm  in  arm  down-stairs  and  lunched 
cheerfully.  Towards  the  end  of  the  meal,  he  asked 
the  question  which  had  been  on  his  lips  more  than 
once. 

"  Heard  anything  of  Jocelyn  Thew?  " 

*'  Not  a  word." 

Richard  sighed  thoughtfully. 

"  What  a  waste !  "  he  exclaimed.  "  A  man  like 
that  ought  to  be  doing  great  things.  Katharine, 
you  ought  to  have  seen  their  faces  when  they  searched 
me  and  found  I  was  only  carrying  out  a  packet  of 
old  love  letters,  and  it  dawned  upon  them  that  he'd 
got  away  with  the  goods !  I  wonder  if  they  ever 
caught  him." 

"  Shouldn't  we  have  heard  of  it.'  "  she  asked. 

*'  Not  necessarily.  If  he'd  been  caught  under  cer- 
tain circumstances,  he  might  have  been  shot  on  sight 
and  we  should  never  have  heard  a  word.  Not  that 
that's  likely,  of  course,"  he  went  on,  suddenly  realis- 
ing her  pallor.  "  What  a  clumsy  ass  I  am,  Kath- 
arine !  We  should  have  heard  of  it  one  way  or  an- 
other.—  Do  you  see  who's  sitting  over  there  in  a 
corner.?  " 

Katharine  looked  across  the  room  and  shook  her 
head. 

*'  The  face  of  the  man  in  khaki  seems  familiar,"  she 
admitted. 

"  That's  Crawshay,  the  fellow  whom  Jocelyn  Thew 
fooled.  He  was  married  last  week  to  the  girl  with 
him,  Nora  Sharey,  her  name  was.  She  came  from 
New  York." 


296     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

"  They  seem  very  happy,"  Katharine  observed, 
watching  them  as  they  left  the  room. 

"  Crawshay's  a  good  fellow  enough,"  her  brother 
remarked,  "  and  the  girl's  all  right,  although  at  one 
time  — " 

He  stopped  short,  but  his  sister's  ej^es  were  fixed 
upon  him   enquiringly-. 

"  At  one  time,"  he  continued,  "  I  used  to  think 
that  she  was  mad  about  Jocelyn  Thew.  Not  that 
that  made  any  difference  so  far  as  he  was  concerned. 
He  never  seemed  to  find  time  or  place  in  his  life  for 
women." 

They  finished  their  luncheon  and  made  their  way 
up-stairs  once  more  to  Katharine's  sitting  room. 
Richard  stretched  himself  in  any  easy-chair  and  lit 
a  cigar  with  an  air  of  huge  content. 

"  I  am  to  be  transferred  when  our  first  division 
comes  across,"  he  told  her.  "  Our  Squadron  Com- 
mander's going  to  make  that  all  right  with  the  W.  0. 
We've  had  some  grand  flights  lately,  I  can  tell  you, 
Katharine." 

There  was  a  knock  at  the  door,  a  few  moments 
later.  The  waiter  entered,  bearing  a  card  upon  a 
tray,  which  he  handed  to  Katharine.  She  read  it 
with  a  perplexed  frown. 

"  Sir  Denis  Cathley. —  But  I  don't  know  of  any 
one  of  that  name,"  she  declared,  glancing  up.  "  Are 
you  sure  that  he  wants  to  see  me.''  " 

"  Perhaps  I  had  better  explain,"  a  quiet  voice  in- 
tcr]:)osed  from  outside.     "  ^la}'  I  come  in  ?  " 

Katharine  gave  a  little  cry  and  Richard  sprang 
to  his  feet.  Sir  Denis  pushed  past  the  waiter. 
For  a  moment  Katharine  had  swayed  upon  her  feet. 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     297 

*'  I  am  so  sorry,"  he  said  earnestly.  "  Please 
forgive  me,  Miss  Beverley,  and  do  sit  down.  It  was 
an  absurd  thing  to  force  my  way  upon  you  like 
this.  Only,  you  see,"  he  went  on,  as  he  helped  her 
to  a  chair,  "  the  circumstances  which  required  my 
use  of  a  partially  assumed  name  have  changed.  I 
ought  to  have  written  you  and  explained.  Naturally 
you  thought  I  was  dead,  or  at  the  other  end  of  the 
world." 

Katharine  smiled  a  little  weakly.  She  was  back 
again  in  her  chair,  but  Sir  Denis  seemed  to  have 
forgotten  to  release  her  hand,  which  she  made  no 
effort  to  withdraw. 

"  It  was  perfectly  ridiculous  of  me,"  she  mur- 
mured, "but  I  was  just  telling  Dick  —  he  is  back 
again  for  another  four  days'  leave  and  we  were  talk- 
ing about  you  at  luncheon  time  —  that  I  wasn't 
feeling  very  w^ell,  and  your  coming  in  like  that  was 
quite  a  shock.  I  am  absolutely  all  right  now.  Do 
please  sit  down  and  explain,"  she  begged,  motioning 
him  to  a  chair. 

The  waiter  had  disappeared.  Sir  Denis  shook 
hands  with  Richard,  v/ho  wheeled  an  easy-chair  for- 
ward for  him.  He  sat  down  between  them  and  com- 
menced his  explanation. 

"  You  see,"  he  went  on,  "  as  a  criminal  I  am  really 
rather  a  fraud.  When  I  tell  you  that  I  am  an  Irish- 
man —  perhaps  you  may  have  guessed  it  from  my 
name  —  and  a  rabid  one,  a  Sinn  Feiner,  and  that  for 
ten  years  I  have  lived  with  a  sentence  probably  of 
death  hanging  over  me,  you  will  perhaps  understand 
my  hatred  of  England  and  my  somewhat  morbid 
demeanour  generally." 


298     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

Katharine  was  speechless.  Richard  Beverley  in- 
dulged in  a  long  whistle. 

'•  So  that's  the  explanation ! "  he  exclaimed. 
"  That  was  why  you  got  mixed  up  with  that  German 
crew,  eh  ?  " 

"  That,"  Sir  Denis  admitted,  "  was  the  reason 
for  my  attempted  enterprise." 

"Attempted?"  Richard  protested.  "But  you 
brought  it  off,  didn't  you?  " 

"  The  end  of  the  affair  was  really  curious,"  Sir 
Denis  explained,  "  I  suppose,  in  a  wa}',  I  did  bring 
it  off,  I  caught  the  mail  train  from  Euston  that 
night,  got  away  with  the  papers  and  took  them  where 
I  always  meant  to  —  to  my  old  home  on  the  west 
coast  of  Ireland.  There,  whilst  I  was  waiting  to 
keep  an  appointment  with  a  German  U-boat,  I  found 
out  what  happens  to  a  man  who  has  sworn  an  oath 
that  he  will  never  again  look  inside  an  English  news- 
paper, and  been  obstinate  enough  to  keep  his 
word." 

"  Say,  this  is  interesting !  "  Richard  declared  en- 
thusiastically. "  Why,  of  course,  there  have  been 
great  changes,  haven't  there?  You  Irish  are  going 
to  have  all  that  you  want,  after  all," 

"  It  looks  like  it,"  Sir  Denis  assented.  "  I  found 
that  my  home  was  the  rendezvous  of  a  lot  of  my 
old  associates,  only  instead  of  meeting  underneath 
trapdoors  at  the  risk  of  their  lives,  they  were  meet- 
ing quite  openly  and  without  fear  of  molestation. 
From  them  I  heard  that  the  Government  had  granted 
me,  together  with  some  others,  a  free  pardon  many 
months  ago.  I  heard,  too,  of  the  coming  Conven- 
tion and  of  the  altered  spirit  in  English  politics.     I 


THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS     299 

heard  of  these  things  just  in  time,  for  the  U-boat 
was  waiting  outside  in  the  bay." 

"  You  didn't  part  with  the  stuff?  "  Richard  ex- 
claimed eagerly. 

Sir  Denis  shook  his  head. 

"  I  burnt  the  papers  upon  my  hearth,"  he  told 
them.  "  Crawshay  ran  me  to  ground  there,  but  his 
coming  wasn't  necessary.  A  great  deal  besides  the 
ashes  of  those  documents  went  up  in  smoke  that 
night." 

Richard  Beverley  had  risen  to  his  feet  and  was 
pacing  up  and  down  the  room.  He  found  some  vent 
for  his  feelings  by  wringing  his  friend's  hand. 

"  If  this  doesn't  beat  the  band !  "  he  exclaimed. 
"  My  head  isn't  strong  enough  to  take  it  all  in. 
So  Crawshay  found  you  out?  " 

"  He  arrived,"  Sir  Denis  replied,  "  to  find  the 
papers  burning  upon  the  hearth.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  he  took  the  ashes  with  him." 

"He  didn't  arrest  3'ou,  then,  after  all?  There 
was  no  charge  made?  " 

"  None  whatever.  He  was  perfectly  satisfied.  He 
stayed  until  the  next  morning  and  we  parted  friends. 
A  few  days  ago  I  had  his  wedding  cards.  You 
know  whom  he  married?  " 

"  Saw  them  together  down-stairs,"  Richard  de- 
clared. "  I'm  off  in  a  moment  to  see  if  I  can  get 
hold  of  Crawshay  and  shake  his  hand. —  So  you're 
Sir  Denis  Cathley,  eh,  and  you've  chucked  that 
other  game  altogether?  " 

"  Naturally,"  the  other  replied  — "  Sir  Denis 
Jocelyn  Cathley.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  I  am  up  in 
town  to  arrange  for  some  one  else  to  take  my  place 


300     THE  BOX  WITH  BROKEN  SEALS 

at  the  Convention.  I  am  not  much  use  as  a  maker 
of  laws.  Thej-'ve  promised  me  a  commission  in  the 
Irish  Guards.  That  will  be  settled  in  a  few  days. 
Then  I  shall  go  back  home  to  se;  what  I  can  do 
amongst  my  tenantry,  and  afterwards  —  well,"  he 
concluded,  with  a  little  gleam  in  his  dark  eyes,  "  they 
promise  me  I  shall  go  out  with  the  first  drafts  of  the 
new    battalion." 

Richard  gripped  his  friend's  hand  once  again  and 
turned  towards  the  door. 

"  It's  great ! "  he  declared.  "  I  must  try  and 
catch  Crawshay  before  he  goes." 

He  hurried  out.  The  door  was  closed.  Sir  Denis 
turned  at  once  towards  Katharine.  He  rose  to  his 
feet  and  leaned  over  her  chair.  His  voice  was  not 
quite  so  steady. 

"  So  much  that  I  had  thought  lost  for  ever,"  he 
said,  "  has  come  back  to  me.  So  much  that  I  had 
never  thought  to  realise  in  this  world  seems  to  be 
coming  true.  Is  it  too  late  for  me  to  ask  for  the 
one  greatest  thing  of  all  of  the  only  person  who 
could  count  —  who  ever  has  counted?  You  know 
so  well,  Katharine,  that  even  as  a  soured  and  dis- 
appointed man  I  loved  you,  and  now  it  is  just  you, 
and  you  only,  who  could  give  me  —  what  I  want  in 
life." 

She  laid  her  fingers  upon  his  shoulders.  Her  eyes 
shone  as  he  drew  her  into  his  arms. 

"  I  ought  to  keep  you  waiting  such  a  long  time," 
she  murmured,  "  because  I  had  to  ask  you  first  — 
for  your  friendship,  and  you  weren't  very  kind  to 
me.     But  I  can't." 

THE    END 


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Dope.     By  Sax  Rohmer. 

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Man  Who  Couldn't  Sleep,  The.    By  Arthur  Stringer. 

Marqueray's  Duel.    By  Anthony  Pryde. 

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Mischief  Maker,  The.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Missioner,  The.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Miss  Million's  Maid.    By  Berta  Ruck. 

Money  Master,  The.     By  Gilbert  Parker. 

Money  Moon,  The.    By  Jeffery  Farnol. 

Moonlit  Way,  The.     By  Robert  W.  Chambers. 

More  Tish.     By  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart. 

Mountain  Girl,  The.     By  Payne  Erskine. 

Mr.  Single.     By  George  Barr  McCutcheon. 

Mr.  Grex  of  Monte  Carlo.    By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Mr.  Pratt,     By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Pratt's  Patients.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Mr.  Wu.    By  Louise  Jordan  Miln. 

Mrs.  Balfame.     By  Gertrude  Atherton. 

Mrs.  Red  Pepper.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

My  Lady  of  the  North.     By  Randall  Parrish. 

My  Lady  of  the  South.     By  Randall  Parrish. 

Mystery  of  the  Hasty  Arrow,  The.    By  Anna  K.  Green. 

Mystery  of  the  Silver  Dagger,  The.    By  Randall  Parrish. 

Mystery  of  the  13th  Floor,  The.    By  Lee  Thayer. 

Nameless  Man,  The.    By  Natalie  Sumner  Lincoln. 

Ne'er-Do-Well,  The.     By  Rex  Beach. 

Net,  The.     By  Rex  Beach. 

New  Clarion.    By  Will  N.  Harben, 

Night  Horseman,  The.     By  Max  Brand. 

Night  Operator,  The.     By  Frank  L.  Packard. 

Night  Riders,  The.    By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

North  of  the  Law.    By  Samuel  Alexander  White. 

One  Way  Trail,  The.    By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Outlaw,  The.     By  Jackson  Gregory. 

Owner  of  the  Lazy  D,    By  William  Patterson  White. 

Painted  Meadows.    By  Sophie  Kerr. 

Palmetto.     By  Stella  G.  S.  Perry. 

Paradise  Bend.     By  William  Patterson  White. 

Pardners.    By  Rex  Beach. 

Parrot  &  Co.     By  Harold  MacGrath. 

Partners  of  the  Night.    By  Leroy  Scott. 


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Partners  of  the  Tide.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Passionate  Pilgrim,  The.    By  Samuel  Merwin. 

Patricia  Brent,  Spinster.     Anonymous. 

Patrol  of  the  Sun  Dance  Trail,  The.    By  Ralph  Connor. 

Paul  Anthony,  Christian.     By  Hiram  W.  Hayes. 

Pawns  Count,  The.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Peacemakers,  The.    By  Hiram  W.  Hayes. 

Peddler,  The.     By  Henry  C.  Rowland. 

People's  Man,  A.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Peter  Ruff  and  the  Double  Four.    By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Poor  Man's  Rock.     By  Bertrand  Siinclair. 

Poor  Wise  Man,  A.     By  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart. 

Portygee,  The.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Possession.     By  Olive  Wadsley. 

Postmaster,  The.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Prairie  Flowers.     By  James  B.  Hendryx. 

Prairie  Mother,  The.     By  Arthur  Stringer. 

Prairie  Wife,  The.     By  Arthur  Stringer. 

Pretender,  The.    By  Robert  W.  Service, 

Price  of  the  Prairie,  The.     By  Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 

Prince  of  Sinners,  A.    By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Promise,  The.    By  J.  B.  Hendryx. 

Quest  of  the  Sacred  Slipper,  The.    By  Sax  Rohmer. 

Rainbow's  End,  The,     By  Rex  Beach. 

Rainbow  Valley.    By  L.  M.  Montgomery. 

Ranch  at  the  Wolverine,  The.    By  B.  M.  Bower. 

Ranching  for  Sylvia.     By  Harold  Bindloss. 

Ransom.     By  Arthur  Somers  Roche. 

Real  Life.     By  Henry  Kitchell  Webster. 

Reclaimers,  The.     By  Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 

Re-Creation  of  Brian  Kent,  The.    By  Harold  Bell  Wright 

Red  and  Black.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  Mist,  The.    By  Randall  Parrish. 

Red  Pepper  Bums.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  Pepper's  Patients,    By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Red  SeaC  The.     By  Natalie  Sumner  Lincoln. 

Rejuvenation  of  Aimt  Mary,  The.     By  Anne  Warner. 

Restless  Sex,  The.     By  Robert  W.  Chambers. 


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Return  of  Dr.  Fu-Manchu,  The.    By  Sax  Rohmer. 

Return  of  Tarzan,  The.     By  Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Riddle  of  the  Frozen  Flame,  The.     By  M.   E.  and  T.  W. 

Hanshew. 
Riddle  of  Night,  The.    By  Thomas  W.  Hanshew. 
Riddle  of  the  Purple  Emperor,  The.    By  T.  W.  and  M,  E. 

Hanshew. 
Rider  of  the  King  Log,  The.    By  Holman  Day. 
Rim  of  the  Desert,  The.    By  Ada  Woodruff  Anderson. 
Rise  of  Roscoe  Paine,  The.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 
Rising  Tide,  The.     By  Margaret  Deland. 
Rocks  of  Valpre,  The.    By  Ethel  M.  Dell. 
Room  Number  3.     By  Anna  Katharine  Green. 
Rose  in  the  Ring,  The.    By  George  Barr  McCutcheon. 
Round  the  Comer  in  Gay  Street.    By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

St.  Elmo.    (Ill,  Ed.)    By  Augusta  J.  Evans. 

Second  Choice.     By  Will  N.  Harben. 

Second  Latchkey,  The.    By  C.  N.  &  A.  M.  Williamson. 

Second  Violin,  The.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Secret  of  the  Reef,  The.     Harold  Bindloss. 

Secret  of  Sarek,  The.     By  Maurice  Leblanc. 

See-Saw,  The.     By  Sophie  Kerr. 

Self-Raised.     (IH.)     By  Mrs.  Southworth. 

Shavings.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Sheik,  The.   By  E.  M.  Hull. 

Shepherd  of  the  Hills,  The.    By  Harold  Bell  Wright. 

Sheriff  of  Dyke  Hole,  The.     By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Sheriff  of  Silver  Bow,  The.    By  Berton  Bralcy. 

Sherry.     By  George  Barr  McCutcheon. 

Side  of  the  Angels,  The.     By  Basil  King. 

Sight  Unseen  and  The  Confession.    By  Mary  Robert  Rinehart, 

Silver  Horde,  The.     By  Rex  Beach. 

Sin  That  Was  His,  The.    By  Frank  L.  Packard. 

Sixty-first  Second,  The.     By  Owen  Johnson. 

Slayer  of  Souls,  The.    By  Robert  W.  Chambers 

Son  of  His  Father,  The.    By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Son  of  Tarzan,  The.     By  Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Speckled  Bird,  A.     By  Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 

Spirit  of  the  Border,  The.     (New  Edition.)     By  Zane  Grey, 


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Spoilers,  The.     By  Rex  Beach. 

Steele  of  the  Royal  Mounted.    By  James  Oliver  Curwood. 

Still  Jim.     By  Honore  Willsie. 

Story  of  Foss  River  Ranch,  The.    By  Ridgwell  CuUum. 

Story  of  Marco,  The.     By  Eleanor  H.  Porter. 

Strange  Case  of  Cavendish,  The.     By  Randall  Parrish. 

Strawberry  Acres.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Sudden  Jim.     By  Clarence  B.  Kelland. 

Sweethearts  Unmet.    By  Berta  Ruck. 

Tales  of  Secret  Egypt.     By  Sax  Rohmer. 

Tales  of  Sherlock  Holmes.     By  A.  Conan  Doyle. 

Talitha  CiuiiL     By  Annie  J.  Holland. 

Taming  of  Zenas  Henry,  The.    By  Sara  Ware  Bassett. 

Tarzan  of  the  Apes.    By  Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Tarzan  and  the  Jewels  of  Opar.     By  Edgar  Rice  Burroughs. 

Tempting  of  Tavernake,  The.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

Tess  of  the  D'Urbervilles.     By  Thomas  Hardy. 

Texan,  The.     By  James  B.  Hendryx. 

Thankful's  Inheritance.    By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

That  Affair  Next  Door.    By  Anna  Katharine  Green. 

That  Printer  of  Udell's.     By  Harold  Bell  Wright. 

Their  Yesterdays.     By  Harold  Bell  Wright. 

Thieves'  Wit.     By  Hulbert  Footner. 

Thirteenth  Commandment,  Th©.     By  Rupert  Hughes. 

Three  Eyes,  The.    By  Maurice  Leblanc. 

Three  of  Hearts,  The.    By  Berta  Ruck. 

Three  Strings,  The.     By  Natalie  Sumner  Lincoln. 

Tiger's  Coat,  The.     By  Elizabeth  Dejeans. 

Tish.     By  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart. 

Tobias  O*  the  Light.     By  James  A.  Cooper. 

Trail  of  the  Axe,  The.     By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Trail  to  Yesterday,  The.     By  Charles  A.  Seltzer. 

Trailin'.     By  Max  Brand. 

Trap,  The.     By  Maximilian  Foster. 

Treasure  of  Heaven,  The.    By  Marie  Corelli. 

Triple  Mystery,  The.     By  Adele  Luehrmann. 

Triumph,  The.    By  Will  N.  Harben. 

Triumph  of  John  Kars,  The.     By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

y.  Tembarom.    By  Frances  Hodgson  Burnett. 


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Turn  of  the  Tide.     By  Author  of  "Pollyanna." 
Turnstile  of  Night,  The.     By  William  Allison. 
Twenty-fourth  of  Jime,  The.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 
Twins  of  Suffering  Creek,  The.     By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 
Two-Gun  Man,  The.     By  Charles  A.  Seltzer. 

Under  Handicap.     By  Jackson  Gregory. 

Under  the  Country  Sky.     By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Underwood  Mystery,  The.     By  Charles  J.  Dutton. 

Uneasy  Street.    By  Arthur  Somers  Roche. 

Unpardonable  Sin,  The.     Major  Rupert  Hughes. 

Untamed,  The.    By  Max  Brand. 

Up  from  Slavery.    By  Booker  T.  Washington. 

Valiants  of  Virginia,  The.    By  Hallie  Ermine  Rives. 
Valley  of  Fear,  The.    By  Sir  A.  Conan  Doyle. 
Valley  of  the  Sun,  The.    By  William  M.  McCoy. 
Vanguards  of  the  Plains.    By  Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 
Vanished  Mesenger,  The.     By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 
Vashti.    By  Augusta  Evans  Wilson. 
Virtuous  Wives.    By  Owen  Johnson. 
Voice  of  the  Pack,  The.    By  Edson  Marshall. 

Waif-o*-the-Sea.     By  Cyrus  Townsend  Brady. 

Wall  Between,  The.     By  Sara  Ware  Bassett. 

Wall  of  Men,  A.     By  Margaret  H.  McCarter. 

Watchers  of  the  Plains,  The  By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Way  Home,  The.    By  Basil  King. 

Way  of  an  Eagle,  The.     By  E.  M.  Dell. 

Way  of  the  Strong,  The.     By  Ridgwell  Cullum. 

Way  of  These  Women,  The.    By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 

We  Can't  Have  Everything.    By  Major  Rupert  Hughes. 

Weavers,  The.     By  Gilbert  Parker. 

West  Wind  Drift.     By  Georcre  Barr  McCutcheon. 

When  a  Man's  a  Man.     By  Harold  Bell  Wright. 

Where  the  Trail  Divides.     Bv  Will  Lillibridge. 

Where  There's  a  Will.     By  Mary  R.  Rinehart. 

White  Moll,  The.     By  Frank  L.  Packard. 

Who  Goes  There?    By  Robert  W.  Chambers. 

Why  Not.    By  Margaret  Widdemer. 


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Window  at  the  White  Cat,  The.    By  Mary  Roberts  Rinehart. 

Winds  of  Chance,  The.    By  Rex  Beach. 

Wine  of  Life,  The.     By  Arthur  Stringer. 

Wings  of  Youth,  The.    By  Elizabeth  Jordan. 

Winning  of  Barbara  Worth,  The.     By  Harold  Bell  Wright 

Winning  the  Wilderness.    By  Margaret  Hill  McCarter. 

Wire  Devils,  The.    By  Frank  L.  Packard. 

Wishing  Ring  Man,  The.    By  Margaret  Widdemcr. 

With  Juliet  in  England.    By  Grace  S.  Richmond. 

Woman  From  "Outside,"  The.    By  Hulbert  Footner. 

Woman  Gives,  The.     By  Owen  Johnson. 

Woman  Haters,  The.     By  Joseph  C.  Lincoln. 

Woman  Thou  Gavest  Me,  The.  By  Hall  Caine. 

Woodcarver  of  'Lympus,  The.    By  Mary  E.  Waller. 

Wooing  of  Rosamond  Fayre,  The.    By  Berta  Ruck. 

World  for  Sale,  The.   By  Gilbert  Parker. 

Wreckers,  The.     By  Francis  Lyndfc. 

Wyndham's  PaL    By  Harold  Bindloss. 

Years  for  Rachel,  The.    By  Berta  Ruck. 

Yellow  Claw,  The.    By  Sax  Rohmer. 

You  Never  Know  Your  Luck.    By  Gilbert  Parker. 

You're  Only  Young  Once.    By  Margaret  Widdemer. 

Youth  Challenges.     By  Clarence  Budington  Kelland. 

Zeppelin's  Passenger.    By  E.  Phillips  Oppenheim. 


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